The Perfect Liar (Last Stand 5)

"Thanks so much. I'm positive she won't mind."

"It's not as if you could be lying about being her sister," she said with a laugh and turned to unlock her own door. "Just a minute..."

Maria disappeared into her apartment and returned seconds later.

"Here you go," she said, and opened Kalyna's door.

Tati stepped inside. "Thanks again. I really appreciate it."

Presumably planning to return it to its place above her fridge, Maria kept the key. "No problem. Have a great time while you're here," she said, and tossed Tatiana a smile as she walked away.

Kalyna's apartment wasn't the cleanest place Tati had ever seen, but it wasn't the messiest, either. Although typically reluctant to go to any extra work, especially if Tati was around to do it for her, Kalyna apparently increased her efforts if she had no backup. The furniture was "secondhand functional," no fril s attached, and the dishes and towels were odds and ends at best, but there were groceries in the fridge.

A peek in Kalyna's bedroom told Tati her sister was home but hadn't completely unpacked. Her suitcase lay open on the floor, half-empty with the remaining clothes and shoes jumbled.

Tati wished Kalyna had a landline so she could call Ava Bixby to tell her she was in town. She hadn't done it yet because she knew Kalyna didn't really trust the victims' advocate. But when Tati had talked to her, she'd gotten a good feeling from Ava. It felt as if she could trust her to help with the terrible things going on in their lives. She had more experience with crime and punishment than Tati did. And they needed someone.

Mark's story was doing so much to discredit Kalyna.

Just as she was curling up on the bed in hopes of sleeping away the wait, Tati's gaze fell on the dresser--and the jewelry box Kalyna had used for years. Kalyna had confessed to having Sarah's necklace, but it'd been a long time since Tati had seen it.

Shaking her hair out of her face, she climbed off the bed and rummaged through the compartments.

Sure enough, there it was--in the bottom drawer, just where it'd always been. Only this time, Tati couldn't bring herself to touch it. That necklace had belonged to a young girl who'd been violently murdered. Who was she? Why had she run away from home? And what about the people she'd left behind? Surely, there were parents, relatives, friends--someone who mourned her.

Tati was so intent on the necklace that at first she didn't see the ring sitting next to it. When she did, the significance didn't immediately register.

She stared at it for several seconds, thinking it had to be some trick of her overwrought imagination. But when she picked it up and held it, she knew it was no trick at all.

This was her mother's wedding ring.

The ring that'd been stolen from her purse when she was murdered.

"Oh, God, Kalyna," she whispered, and would've doubled over in anguish if not for the noise at the door. She hadn't heard anyone come in.

She'd been too intent on what she was doing.

Eyes blurred with tears, she turned to ask her sister how this had happened. Why had Kalyna done what she'd done to Norma, to all of them?

But there was no time to say anything. Spotting the knife, Tati opened her mouth to scream, but her cry was cut off by one quick thrust, and then another and another.

The last thing she remembered was falling to the floor--and seeing her mother's ring roll across the carpet.

Ava stood outside the restaurant in Antioch, wondering how she was going to get home. She knew Sheridan, Skye or Jonathan would come and get her if she asked. It would be a bit of a drive for them, coming from Sacramento, but she could spend the time returning all the calls she'd missed while her phone was off. She'd done so little on her cases this past weekend. She really needed to get in gear, get back to the person she'd been before she met Luke. She hadn't been herself since then.

Her attempt to motivate herself failed, however. She had fifteen new messages waiting for her, and couldn't summon enough enthusiasm to listen to even one.

Tomorrow. She'd start back to work in the morning. Between Luke and Geoffrey and her father...she couldn't cope with business as usual today.

"Hey, ah, you okay?"

The young man who'd served her and her father lunch had just come out of the restaurant. Apparently his shift was over and he was heading home. He'd probably witnessed her father's grand exit and felt sorry for her.

Smiling to cover her embarrassment, Ava planned to tell him that everything was fine. It wasn't as if she had no options. If she didn't want to interrupt her colleagues, she could call a taxi. But when he stepped closer and looked at her with real sympathy, she abandoned the charade she so often used to protect herself.

"I could use a ride," she admitted.

He pulled off the bow tie that was part of his uniform. "What direction are you going?"

She'd intended to tell him she was going to the delta. But she knew that would be out of his way. It was out of everyone's way. Or was that just an excuse to tell him where she really wanted to go? Fairfield would most likely be just as far out of his way. "Covent Garden Apartments. They're in Fairfield."

"Sure, I'l give you a lift," he said, and thirty minutes later she was standing in front of Luke's door.

"I must be a glutton for punishment," she told herself. She'd already ended the relationship and needed to leave it at that before things got any worse. But her heart was thudding so painfully in her chest, she wasn't sure she could move. And now she didn't even have a way to leave. She'd let the waiter who'd brought her drive off with a "thanks for the ride" and a wave.

Maybe, if she was lucky, Luke wouldn't be home. Then she'd be forced to do what she should've done at the restaurant and call a taxi.

Or there was always the chance Luke would tell her he didn't want to talk to her again. He certainly hadn't been happy with her when she'd shown up earlier....

She thought of her father and the fear that immobilized him when it came to Carly. He was so afraid of losing her that he stayed, regardless of the way she treated him. Ava swore she'd never do the same. But she was letting fear control her, too; the difference was, she let fear keep her from trying in the first place.

Refusing to be that big a coward, she threw back her shoulders and knocked.

"Who is it?" Luke's voice rang out above the noise of his television.

He sounded bored, so disinterested he couldn't be bothered to answer.

Ava swallowed hard. "It's me."

A second later, the door swung wide, and Luke was there.

"Hi," she said. She expected him to ask why she'd come back or to make her apologize for how she'd behaved this morning, but he didn't. He seemed relieved. Tilting up her chin with one finger, he pressed his lips to hers in a kiss so gentle she thought she'd melt into a puddle on his doorstep.