The Perfect Liar (41 page)

Ava glanced over at Luke, who was watching her closely. "What is it?" he murmured.

She held up a hand. "Did they say what they wanted?"

"The detective said it was important to reach you. Mr. Harter said it was an emergency."

302

A
va tried to call the detective first. But she was told he was in a meeting and would have to get back to her. So she called Dewayne Harter at the mortuary, who answered as if he'd been waiting by the phone.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Harter, this is Ava Bixby at The Last Stand in Sacramento." She allowed Luke to pull her onto the couch with him so he could listen, too.

"You've been trying to reach me?"

"Yes, I...1 didn't know who else to call. I don't know anyone in California."

"How'd you get my number?"

"Tati, my daughter, gave it to me before she left town. She said you'd help us."

"I wil ," she said. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure. Tati went to California this morning. She didn't tell me she was going to do it. She called from the airport when it was too late for me to talk her out of it."

"Out of what?"

"She wants to reach her sister. Bring her back, if possible, or at least get her to communicate. She's afraid Kalyna's taking the rap for what happened to my wife, and that it's unfair."

Luke shifted and angled the phone closer to him.

"What do you think?" Ava asked.

"It's hard for Tati to be objective. She sees only the best in people, especially her sister. But Kalyna's always been a little...off." Ava caught a look from Luke that said he completely agreed. "I've seen her throw her fits, and I've seen how long she can hold a grudge," Mr. Harter went on. "I think she's capable of anything--even what Mark Cannaby says about her with that...that hitchhiker. God rest the poor child's soul," he added. "But Tati refuses to believe it."

"I can see why you'd be worried, but...what can I do for you, Mr.

303

Harter?"

"I've lost contact with her. Tati doesn't have a cell, and Kalyna won't pick up, at least for me."

"Kalyna was here a few minutes ago. She's fine."

"Tati wasn't with her?"

"No. Did she know Tati was coming?"

"I doubt it. Kalyna wouldn't pick up for her, either."

"What time did Tati leave?" Ava asked.

"About ten. When she called from the airport to tell me what she was doing, she said she'd check in with me as soon as she got there and keep me updated. It's only a short plane ride, which means she's been there for hours, and I haven't heard a word."

Ava covered the phone. "That's weird, isn't it? Do you think she could've been in the car when Kalyna came here?"

"I guess," Luke said with a shrug.

"Would you like me to look into it?" Ava asked Mr. Harter.

"If you could. I'd call the police, but I might be worrying for no reason.

I'd hate to send a false alarm."

"I understand," she said. "I'l see what I can find out and get back to you."

Her phone signaled another call. Expecting it to be the detective, Ava said goodbye to Mr. Harter and switched over. She left the phone slanted so Luke could hear, but it wasn't the detective. It was her father.

"Ava? Jeez,
finally
you answer."

Oh, no, not now.
Pulling the phone away from Luke, Ava straightened. "What do you want, Dad?"

"What do you think I want? I've been calling and calling. I'm sorry, honey. I should never have left you like that. I went back to the restaurant not long after, but you were already gone. Are you okay?"

Ava didn't know what to say. She'd tried so hard to establish a relationship with this man, especially since her mother had gone to prison.

He was all she had. But she couldn't circumvent the roadblock his wife posed. As long as he was with Carly, Carly would come between them, because she wasn't interested in accepting Ava or anyone else in Chuck's life. Carly wanted to prove to herself and everyone else that Chuck cared 304

only for her.

"I'm fine," Ava said. "But...I don't want to hear from you again, Dad.

Not while you're with Carly."

The silence that descended told Ava her father was as shocked as she'd expected him to be. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Carly's my wife!"

"I understand that. I know she matters more than anything to you, and that's why I'm getting out of the way. Maybe it'l make your life easier.

Since it's what you want, I hope you can hold the marriage together, but from now on, I'd rather not be involved."

"You're upset," he said. "You don't know what you're saying."

Ava laughed, a little sadly. "I know exactly what I'm saying. And I mean it."

"Come on, Ava. Now you're acting like Neal."

"Neal deserves more than you've ever given him. And so do I." She closed her eyes against an onslaught of pain as she hung up. It wasn't easy to sever that tie, not when she'd clung to it so tenaciously. But it was done, and she knew she'd be better off. She couldn't cope with the continual disappointment.

"Hey," Luke said. "You okay?"

The sympathy in his expression as he leaned down brought a lump to Ava's throat. But she didn't regret her decision; she only regretted the fact that she'd let her father put her through so much before making it. "I'm fine." Lifting her chin, she turned her mind to business. "I've got to go over to Kalyna's, see if Tati's there."

"Well, you're not going alone, I'l tell you that much," he said, and pulled her to her feet.

Kalyna's apartment was only a five-minute drive. Luke parked the BMW in a resident's spot because all the guest spots were taken, but Ava wasn't too worried about his car being towed away. They wouldn't be here long enough to inconvenience anyone for more than a few minutes.

"Maybe Tati's flight was delayed," Luke said as he got out of the car and waited for Ava. "And that made her miss her connection."

"You think she had a layover? Phoenix is Southwest's hub. There 305

should've been plenty of direct flights. It's not as if San Francisco is a small, out-of-the-way airport."

"She could've had a stopover in L.A," he said as they crossed the parking lot.

Ava could've found Kalyna's address in her file, but there was no need. Luke had been here before. That was how everything started..."But even if she missed her connecting flight, there would've been another one by now," she said. "Flights between L.A. and San Francisco run hourly."

"Does she know the area? Maybe she rented a car but got lost."

Once her eyes had adjusted to the bright sunlight, Ava checked the numbers on the doors they passed. "If Kalyna hasn't seen her, I'l have Jonathan check with the car rental companies. If she rented a car, we should be able to find out where and when, which would give us a starting point."

Luke stopped at an apartment on the right and rang the bell. No one answered, so Ava knocked at the door--and was surprised when it swung inward beneath the subtle pressure of her hand. A quick check told her the door had been locked but the latch hadn't caught the last time someone went in or out.

"Kalyna?" she called.

There was no response. Ava started to go in, but Luke pushed her behind him just before he drew a gun from the waistband of his jeans.

"You brought...
that?"
she whispered.

He didn't look back at her. His body was alert, his eyes focused on the inside of the apartment. "Better safe than sorry," he murmured. "Wait here."

Pointing the muzzle at the ceiling, he stepped cautiously inside. But Ava didn't wait. Just as eager to see what was going on as he was, she followed. It was difficult to feel any danger when she was with him.

If Tati had ever reached the apartment, there was no sign of it. There was no sign of Kalyna, either. The living room, kitchen, bedroom and bath were all empty. "She must not have gone home when she left your place,"

Ava said as they stood in the master bedroom.

Luke frowned at her. "Why didn't you wait in the hall?"

"There was no need. No one's home."

306

"There could've been someone in here." He returned the gun to the waistband of his jeans. "What about this suitcase?" he asked, touching the edge of it with his foot. "You think it's Tati's?"

"Not necessarily. It could belong to Kalyna. She just got back from Arizona. Maybe she hasn't finished unpacking."

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."

307

"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, 308

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.