Читать книгу She Did a Bad, Bad Thing - Stephanie Bond, Stephanie Bond - Страница 9

5

“SO, HOW’D IT GO?” Theresa asked him on the phone.

“I feel good about my closing,” Perry cautiously told his long-time office manager. “But the judge postponed his decision until next week.”

“Perry, I don’t think we can hang on that long. Your creditors are breathing down my neck.”

“What about the money from the sale of my house?”

“We’ve already gone through it.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose to ward off the headache that threatened. “Put them off for a few more days, Theresa. When the judge rules in our favor and orders Deartmond Industries to pay, we’ll be back on top.”

“Don’t you mean if the judge rules in your favor and orders Deartmond Industries to pay? I think it’s great that you took on this case pro bono, but you’ve spent so much time on it, your revenues have hit bottom. If you lose this case, or if the compensation isn’t spectacular, we’ll have to close the doors.” She made a rueful noise. “Perhaps you should consider taking the settlement.”

He set his jaw. “The settlement is an insult to my client. And besides, it’s no longer on the table.”

“This newfound nobility of yours is admirable, Perry, but it was easier to pay the bills when you were an ambulance chaser.”

He laughed at her dry humor. “Have some faith. I’ll find some way to pay the bills.”

She sighed. “When are you coming in? You have about a hundred phone calls to return.”

“I’ll be there after lunch. I need to stop by my condo first.”

“So, how is condo living?”

He frowned into the phone. “Apparently, the walls are thin. I miss my house.”

“Win that judgment and you can move,” Theresa said flatly.

Perry pursed his mouth. “Which reminds me—would you run down a bio on a woman named Jane Kurtz? She lives in my building, so she’ll have the same address.”

“Is this someone you’re trying to hit on?” she asked suspiciously.

“No,” he said with a frown. Although strangely, the idea wasn’t completely unappealing.

“Okay, well, I have to go so I can make a deal with the devil to keep our lights on for another week.”

“You’re the best,” Perry said.

“Yes, I am,” Theresa agreed, then hung up.

He switched off the hands-free microphone and exhaled while loosening his tie. The Kendall case had already drawn out eighteen months longer than he’d expected, and had consumed an enormous amount of time. He’d passed on other cases and was now operating his law firm on a shoestring, but he’d thought it was worth it when he’d taken on security guard Thomas Kendall’s case. His employer, Deartmond Industries, had exposed Kendall to dangerous emissions over two decades as he manned his post in a guard shack situated next to the manufacturer’s exhaust system, then fired him when the man had applied for disability over the lung ailment he had developed.