The Perfect Liar (Last Stand 5)

Kalyna held her breath.

"It was difficult at times..."

"Speak up," Kalyna prompted, but Tatiana didn't even glance at her.

"We--we sometimes struggled to get along with our new parents...What'd you say? Did Kalyna ever harm herself?" Tati's eyes finally sought Kalyna, and Kalyna shook her head.

Tati licked her lips. "N-no. Of course Kalyna would never do that...My m-mother doesn't like outsiders to know about our private lives...Yes...Yes, that's true...Mmm-hmm..." She closed her eyes. "Of course...You're welcome."

By the time she finished the conversation, her voice was so small, Kalyna wondered if Ava could hear her, but she accepted the phone when Tati handed it back.

"What have I done?" she heard Tati mumble, but she ignored her.

"Hello," she said to Ava.

There was no answer.

"Hello?"

"Oh--sorry, I was thinking."

"About what?"

"Your sister seems like a very nice person."

Kalyna watched Tati slide down the wall and bury her face in her arms. "She is. We've always been as close as two sisters can be." Or so she'd thought until recently....

"I'm sorry your original adoption didn't turn out as you'd hoped--as anyone would hope. It's a tragic story."

"As long as you know my current mother's lying about me," Kalyna said.

"This isn't an easy case," Ava responded.

Sensing another chance to convince her, Kalyna spoke even more earnestly. "I know. But it'l be fine if you'l help. Stick by me, okay? I need you."

There was another pause, then Kalyna heard Ava sigh. "I'l do my best."

At this, Kalyna pulled her sweat-dampened blouse away from her skin. "Does that mean you're keeping the case?"

"I guess," she said, but she sounded resigned rather than dedicated.

"Thanks, Ava. You won't regret it."

"Just tell me one more time that you're not lying to me. Because if I get involved in this and we put an innocent man behind bars..."

"Luke isn't innocent. I'm telling you God's honest truth, Ava. I swear it on my life."

"Okay. I'l move forward, for now. Meanwhile, you'd better return to the base as soon as you can. Desertion is a serious offense, and we'l need you to look repentant. That's our only intelligent approach to this. Everyone can sympathize with a desire to reform, even strict military personnel--if we're lucky."

"Is Sunday night soon enough? There's no point in returning earlier. I couldn't get back before the weekend, anyway."

"If it won't make a difference."

"It won't make a difference. Thank you. Thank you so much." After she hung up, Kalyna crouched and gave her sister's shoulders a squeeze.

"I knew you wouldn't fail me."

Chapter 11

Ava set down her phone and leaned her head against the back of the chair. Why did she just agree to keep working on this case? She didn't have any more proof of Kalyna's veracity now than she'd had fifteen minutes earlier. Not really. Who was to say Tatiana was any more credible than Kalyna? Or that the woman she'd spoken to on the phone was even Kalyna's sister?

Ava hadn't wanted to say yes, but it was so difficult to resist those tearful entreaties. She couldn't stand the thought of turning away someone who might really need her. She kept asking herself, "What if I was that lost soul? What if something like this had happened to me and no one believed it?"

That empathy made her a good caseworker--but she could see how it might also make her too gullible. Was she being conned? Maybe...

The television suddenly sounded far too loud. Irritated by the noise, she got up to switch it off and noticed the picture of her and Geoffrey propped on her bookshelf. It'd been taken when they visited San Francisco a year ago. Twelve months had passed and they weren't seeing any more of each other than they had then. No wonder Jonathan made fun of their relationship.

But she missed Geoffrey tonight. Didn't she?

She couldn't decide if she missed him or if she was just lonely, but she picked up the phone to call him.

"Hey, I was wondering what you were up to," he said when he heard her voice.

He could've checked in with her just as easily, but she didn't complain. At least he was always congenial. That was one of the traits she liked about him.

"How's work?" she asked, carrying her empty sandwich plate into the kitchen.

"Busy." While she cleaned up the small mess she'd made preparing her dinner, they talked about a big meeting he had on Monday with another wealthy developer who wanted to do a joint venture in the Natomas area.

"I could make a quarter mil on that deal alone," he said.

"That's great." They talked about some of his other projects and a recent acquisition of a hundred acres in Rosevil e, where he hoped to do some commercial development. She was just starting the dishwasher when the conversation turned to her.

"What about you?" he asked. "What's going on at TLS? Anything new?"

"A strange case I'm not quite sure what to do with," she said.

"What's strange about it?"

She finished wiping the counters. "One minute I think my client's lying and I'm determined to dump her. The next I think she's one of the most tragic victims I've ever met." My mother used to lock us in the cooler with the dead bodies....

Ava shivered. How would that affect a young mind?

"So what are you going to do?" Geoffrey asked. "Take it--or let it go?"

"Give her the benefit of the doubt, I guess, and do what I can for her.

Trust in the due process of law to take care of the rest."

"Do you want me to talk you out of it?"

"No, I want you to come over." She'd said it on impulse, but after the invitation was out, she realized it was true. She wanted his company, his reassuring presence.

"Now?"

"Why not?"

"Because it's ten o'clock."

"So?"

"So...why would I come over this late? Just to say good-night?"

"You don't want to drive out unless you know up front that you're going to get laid?"

Obviously aware that didn't paint him in the best light, he tried to backpedal. "I didn't mean it that way. It's not like you have to reward me for the drive or anything. It's just...I'm tired and I have to get up early in the morning."

"So it's too much trouble." Gee, maybe she'd be more tempted to sleep with him if he wasn't so practical, if he was wil ing to be impulsive now and then.

"Do you have to put it like that?"