The Perfect Liar (Last Stand #5)(58)
Author: Brenda Novak

Ava could tell he was leading up to a bigger climax than this. "And?"

"And then she leaned forward to show me a knife she had in her purse and said, ‘I’ve done it before.’"

Chil s rolled down Ava’s spine. This incident definitely made it easier to believe that Kalyna might’ve caused Norma’s death. "What’d you do?"

"I left. I was done with her."

"Do you think she was serious about having kil ed before?" Ava asked.

Fewkes’s nod was emphatic. "Serious as a heart attack. And I’l testify to that."

His story revealed a frightening cold-bloodedness on Kalyna’s part.

Because of that, Ava thought Fewkes’s testimony might be important to both cases–Luke’s and Norma’s. "You just might have to do that. Give me your contact information," she said, and after they left she called the Mesa police.

The door opened while Luke was trying to move all his groceries to one arm so he could reach the knob. "Sergeant O’Dell and Captain Fewkes stopped by," Ava announced, stepping back to admit him.

He carried his sacks in and deposited them on the counter. "Who’s Fewkes?"

"A guy you’ve met playing basketball a time or two."

Luke didn’t recognize the name. "Why’d he come here?"

"To tell you that Kalyna isn’t stable."

"As if that’s news." He stowed the milk in the fridge. "How does he know?"

While Ava explained what Fewkes and O’Dell had said, Luke put away the rest of his groceries. By the time she finished, he felt as much relief as concern. The number of people who stood on his side was growing. No court-martial would find against him with the details that were coming to light.

But he stil had no idea where this would end. He felt confident that he could take care of himself, and doubted Kalyna would attack him physically. But obsession-motivated murder didn’t happen only in the movies.

You’ve been seeing her, haven’t you!

The accusation ringing through her statement showed that Kalyna viewed them as a couple. And she’d already told him what she had planned for any love interest of his. Was Ava in danger?

He thought she might be. No one even knew where Kalyna was, but if she’d murdered her mother, she could be on a rampage. And she had military training, familiarity with weapons.

"You’re quiet," Ava said when he made no comment on Fewkes’s story.

He folded the sacks and slipped them onto a shelf in his small pantry.

"I’m wondering what to do."

"About what?"

"About you."

"I’m not your problem."

Then whose problem was she? He doubted she would’ve been embroiled in this had she just dropped the case and walked away as she’d initially tried to do. It was her affiliation with him that put her at risk. She’s working for me now, he’d told Kalyna. He’d all but painted a target on Ava’s forehead. What had he been thinking?

That Kalyna was like other people, like him. That she’d respond to the news of Ava’s defection by realizing she was losing any advantage she had. That she’d back off. But she wasn’t like other people. The deeper he got into this, the more he understood that.

"So you’l be safe on the houseboat?" he asked. "I mean, she has no way of finding it, right?"

"No. No way. She knows how to find this place, though. She could come here, shoot up your apartment–shoot you–and it would all be over in seconds."

"She’s not going to shoot me."

"You don’t know that. You can’t stay here."

"Where am I supposed to go?"

"To a friend’s place."

"My friends have roommates and no extra beds. And I’m not leaving the comfort of my apartment unless I’m happy with where I’m staying."

"Which means what?"

He grinned. "I’m happy at your place."

"No way. You’re not coming home with me."

"Why not?" Maybe her clothes were as ugly as ever, but she was pretty in spite of them, far prettier than the day he’d first met her. Why she seemed to have changed so much in such a short time, he couldn’t say–

except that her personality somehow pulled the entire package together.

"You have a comfortable recliner."

Her forehead rumpled. "You’re kidding, right? Don’t you have to work in the morning?"

"I can make a call, leave a message for my superior officer. I have so much leave coming, he’l give me the whole week. It’l save him from having to think up things for me to do now that I’m grounded."

"So you want to come home with me."

"I think it would be safer." Luke hid a smile. He didn’t need to stay anywhere. He had a 9 mm in his dresser drawer. He could protect himself, but the image of Ava in that thong flashed before his eyes for probably the mil ionth time, and staying home–or anywhere else–just couldn’t compete.

He doubted Kalyna could find the houseboat, but he didn’t want to risk being wrong and seeing Ava get hurt. In his mind, this was more about protecting her, and there was no harm in that. "What do you say?"

"I’ve used the boat as a refuge for my clients before," she mused.

"And I’ve got an extra bedroom and everything."

You should watch the sunrise from my bedroom…He had no interest in her guest quarters. And he felt it was only fair to warn her. "Just so you know, if you do have me over, it’s asking for trouble."

Her eyes narrowed. "What kind of trouble?"

Stepping closer, he lowered his voice. "The kind of trouble that comes with getting naked."

She licked her lips nervously. "You’re not attracted to me, remember?"

"I might’ve overstated the level of my disinterest."

"No, you were right." She backed away. "We’re a mismatch.

Completely different, il -suited, worlds apart."

"I keep telling myself that."

"But…"

"I stil want you."

She cleared her throat. "Absolutely not. Forget it. I won’t be getting naked with you," she said. But when he packed his bag, he took the condoms from his nightstand, just in case.

The woman who’d welcomed Kalyna to Help for Women, a free clinic in Reno that was open twenty-four hours seven days a week, stood in the doorway of the small exam room where Kalyna had been waiting. She was smiling, which boded well. "Great news," she said.

Kalyna’s heart jumped into her throat. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. The AIDS test showed no antibodies. You’re clean."

But what about the baby? "And the pregnancy?"

Her smile faded. "I’m afraid there is no pregnancy."