The Perfect Liar (Last Stand 5)

"You've got my purse." Favoring her bad knee, Norma stepped forward. Her weight was wreaking havoc with all her joints and had been for some time. "You were stealing from me."

"I wasn't stealing, " Kalyna said. "I was just borrowing a few bucks to get me home. I'l send it back to you as soon as I get my next paycheck."

"And my ring?"

"I was admiring it. What more would I want with it?"

"That's what I'd like to know. Give me my purse." Her tentlike nightgown bil owed around her as she limped forward to grab it. "What else did you take, huh?" she asked, rummaging through it. "Where're my diamond earrings?"

"I don't have them. I didn't even know they were in there."

"They're gone."

"I didn't take them!"

"Like hell! They can't disappear on their own." She snatched her wallet and opened it to find it empty. Then her face contorted with the seething hatred Kalyna had sensed all along. "You little bitch! You took my money. You were planning on cleaning me out, weren't you!"

Her mother was starting to raise her voice. Kalyna knew the scene that would ensue if her father got wind of this. Tatiana would jump in, too, trying to calm everyone down--but she'd ultimately take Norma and Dewayne's side. She wouldn't see getting up in the middle of the night to pilfer from Norma's purse as borrowing, either. She would've forgiven her for stealing from her own purse; she'd done it before. But not Norma's.

Why didn't you tell me you needed money? she'd whisper, wearing that disappointed expression she'd perfected in Kalyna's absence.

"Stop freaking out!" Kalyna said. "I was planning on paying you back, like I said. I'm just a little short on cash right now."

"I saw those packages you brought home today. What about all the money you spent at the mall?"

"I was trying to show Tati a good time."

Her mother couldn't even take her makeup off properly. Her eyebrows, normally penciled in, had been washed away, but mascara smudges beneath both eyes made her look like a raccoon. "And that means it's okay? You can spend your money however and whenever you please and then take money from me when you run out? You're unbelievable, you know that? Just when I think you can't surprise me anymore, you do something like this."

"There's a woman in California who's trying to sabotage my case,"

Kalyna explained. "She was supposed to be helping me, but now she's gone over to the other side. If I don't get back, she'l convince the prosecutor to drop the charges against the man who raped me."

"Oh, stop going on about being raped!" she cried. "You weren't raped.

That's the biggest farce I've heard yet." Dropping her purse, she went into the kitchen. "This is it, the last straw. I'm calling the police."

Kalyna followed hot on her heels. "To tell them what?"

"That you're a thief, a whore and a liar, that's what! You're not worth the air you breathe, Kalyna, and you never have been."

The anger Kalyna felt toward Ava and Luke and even Tatiana mingled with the hatred she felt toward her mother and quickly boiled down into a steely determination. "Stop saying that! I'm tired of hearing it!"

"I'l say whatever I want." She had her hand on the phone. Kalyna knew that if the police arrived it'd all be over. Even if they didn't put her in jail, they'd send her back to the base, and she'd pay whatever penalty her commanding officer decided to levy. She wouldn't evoke any sympathy when she'd just been busted for stealing. She'd lose favor with Ogitani, too, and Luke and Ava would get away with teaming up against her.

"Put the phone down," she said.

Her mother lifted her face, causing her double chins to wag. "Like hell I wil ." Then the tenor of her voice changed, and Kalyna knew someone had answered. "Hello? Yes, I'd like to report--"

Kalyna grabbed the phone and slammed it down before Norma could say any more. But she wasn't prepared for the hand that whipped around to slap her across the face. Stunned to think her sick, aging mother had actually struck her, she stood there with her ears ringing.

And then she snapped.

Lowering her shoulder, she shoved Norma into the counter. Norma grunted and opened her mouth to call out, but Kalyna grabbed her by the throat. Before she knew it, they were both on the floor and she was choking her mother for all she was worth. "This is how you make me feel. This is how you've always made me feel. How do you like it, huh? How do you like it?"

Her mother's eyes bulged from their sockets, her face turned blue, and her mouth opened and closed, but Kalyna kept squeezing, using the weight of her body when the strength in her hands gave out. She wouldn't let her whale of a mother cost her Luke. She wouldn't let her whale of a mother cost her anything. Finally, Norma would pay for what she'd done.

Chapter 20

When Luke woke the next morning, he found himself on Ava's recliner with a blanket tossed over him. She was on the couch, curled up and facing in the other direction. Her blanket had slipped onto the floor, leaving her uncovered and revealing her shapely legs. But it was the curve of her bare bottom beneath her sweatshirt-- his sweatshirt--that really caught his attention.

She made such a pretty sight he didn't move right away. If he stirred she'd probably jump up, realize she'd been running around the house half-dressed and shove him toward the door. He remembered how she'd nearly leaped out of his car rather than invite him in. She did that when she got defensive. But she wasn't defensive now....

Was she stil wearing that thong he'd glimpsed last night? If not, he wasn't the one who'd removed it. He hadn't drunk that much. After what'd happened with Kalyna, he wasn't stupid enough to let go to that degree.

He'd only wanted someone to talk to. And Ava had given him that. But she didn't have his body weight--or any tolerance for alcohol, apparently--and had gotten buzzed while they were stil sitting on the couch. From that point on, she'd treated him like a girlfriend, as if it didn't matter that she was in her underwear. But it did. The image of her small bu**ocks, the scrap of lace that covered her in front, her bare legs and those painted toenails was indelibly imprinted on his brain.

If he leaned slightly to the left, he'd be able to see more, he realized, but he didn't allow himself the liberty. She'd trusted him enough to let him stay over, and he didn't want to betray that trust. He liked her, had enjoyed spending time with her, especially once she lowered her guard and was simply herself. At first, they'd talked about Kalyna and the possibility of a baby. But then they'd put on an old movie and played poker, and the conversation had drifted all over the place. Ava was actually a funny drunk.