The Perfect Liar (Last Stand 5)

He picked up a blouse that'd been discarded on the floor. "I think it is Kalyna's. I've seen her wear this before."

Ava peered into the closet and found enough sex toys to stock an adult fantasy shop. "Looks like she's got all the tools she needs for her fetishes."

Luke wouldn't even approach the closet. "I don't want to see it."

"Maybe you'd like to see this."

When he turned, she lifted an eight-by-ten photograph of him that'd been framed and placed on the dresser.

"What the hell? Where'd she get that?" He took a closer look and cursed under his breath. "That was at the Moby Dick. She had a digital camera that night, kept snapping pictures."

"Apparently she has others." Ava pointed to another one, of Luke in his flight suit; it was displayed on the nightstand.

"I don't remember her taking that one. This is creeping me out. It's like walking in and finding some sort of shrine. Al that's missing is the candles."

"It wasn't here the night you came over?"

"I have no idea. I wasn't paying attention to details. And what I do remember I'm trying to block out."

"She needs psychiatric help," Ava said.

"By the time she's done with me, I might need it, too," he joked grimly.

"So where's Tati?"

Ava shook her head. "I have no idea. And that concerns me. I'd better get Jonathan working on the rental. This can't wait until tomorrow."

"Can you do it from the car?" he asked. "I'm not comfortable in here."

"Sure."

"Should we lock the door or leave it as we found it?"

"I say we lock it. It was meant to be locked, just didn't latch. She probably wouldn't know that."

"Hey--" he strode over to the nightstand "--that's my watch!"

"Don't take it," she cautioned. "We don't want her to know we've been here."

"I'm not going to touch it," he said with a grimace. "Come on, let's go."

He walked out ahead of her. She was about to follow when she noticed a large wet spot on the floor. Shoving some of the clothes and then the suitcase out of the way, she touched it. It wasn't blood, but the carpet was soaking wet--and smelled as if it had just been cleaned. Why?

"Hey, you comin'?" Luke reappeared at the door.

Ava frowned. "Looks like Kalyna spil ed something, then scrubbed it afterward."

"It was probably a drink," he said. "Can we get out of here?"

A drink. Ava supposed that was the most plausible answer. People spil ed drinks all the time. But because she'd been working with victims of violent crime, her mind immediately went in a different direction.

"Okay, I'm on my way," she said. But she couldn't help pausing at the door for one final glance--and that was when she caught sight of a purse peeking out from under the bed. The way some of the contents had spil ed out made it look as if it had been kicked there during a struggle. "Luke?

Hang on," she called, and went back to retrieve it.

He returned a second time. "What now?"

Ava knelt on the ground to go through the handbag. Some gum, candy and makeup had fallen out, but the wallet was stil inside. She opened it, expecting to find Kalyna's ID and found Tati's instead.

Holding it up, she waved it at him. "Tati's been here."

He didn't come any closer. Arms folded, he leaned against the doorjamb and frowned. "So where is she now?"

Ava said nothing; she was too busy trying not to assume the worst.

"She must be with Kalyna," he said, answering his own question.

Ava's heart began to beat harder as she stared at the wet spot on the carpet. "I hope so," she said, then put the purse and the suitcase back where she'd found them.

After that, she called Jonathan.

The moment Ava saw the Lexus parked next to her car at the pier, she turned to see Luke's reaction.

"Is that who I think it is?" he asked with a scowl.

"It is if you're thinking it's Geoffrey." Ava wasn't any happier to see her former boyfriend's car than Luke was. She was too exhausted to deal with another emotional episode. The last time she'd spoken to him was when she'd insisted he leave this morning.

Luke put the transmission in Park. "Want me to get rid of him?"

She heard the hope in his voice but shook her head. It wouldn't be fair to Geoffrey to have Luke chase him off. He deserved an apology. She just wished she didn't have to deal with him tonight. "I'l take care of it."

As she picked up her purse, ready to get out of the car, Luke caught her arm. "Are you sure you don't want me to make him leave?"

"No. This is my fault. I should've broken up with him long ago. But since I didn't, I owe him the chance to talk. He's looking for an explanation.

Some closure."

"That'd better be all he's looking for," he muttered.

Ava arched her eyebrows. Hard as it was to believe, Luke sounded jealous. Could he really be threatened by Geoffrey? "If I didn't sleep with him in the past few months, I'm not going to sleep with him now. You know that, right?"

"Of course I know that," he said. "I'm not worried that you'l sleep with him. It's just..."

"What?" she prompted.

"Maybe you'll decide we're a mismatch again. That's what you called us, isn't it? Maybe you'l remember why you were with him in the first place--give him another chance."

"Not likely."

"Somehow, he makes you feel safe, in control, and you gravitate toward that."

Because Geoffrey didn't tempt her into the danger zone she'd always worked so hard to avoid. Being with Luke was a gamble she wanted to take--but one minute she thought she was foolish to risk her heart, and the next she thought she'd rather die than deny herself the chance to love him.

"What you have to offer is completely different," she said.

"What does that mean?" he asked. "What do I have 'to offer'?"

In order to duck out of a real answer, she considered responding with something glib. The best sex a woman could ask for , came to mind. But she knew Luke would be offended because he wasn't shallow. Besides, it wasn't fair to cheapen what she felt, or what he had to give, because of her own insecurities. "The moon."

Cocking his head, he narrowed his eyes. "Are you being insincere?"

"No," she said with a sigh. It was a difficult admission to make, but she couldn't regret it when, in the next instant, he cradled her face and kissed her tenderly.

"I'm not like your father, Ava."