The Perfect Liar (12 page)

At that thought, she released a racking sob.

"Kalyna, stop," Ava said, growing more insistent.

"I was raped! And because Luke has more friends and better parents, he'l get away with it." She hiccuped in her effort to draw enough breath to continue. "My own mother's ruining my chances for justice!"

"Why would she do that?"

"I told you, she hates me. And she knows if this goes to court the truth'l come out. Don't you understand? Major Ogitani plans to establish what my childhood was like. My mother could go to prison herself for what she did to me!"

"Shutting you in the cooler was bad, but...are you talking about more than that?"

"Yes! She backhanded me at every opportunity, pinched me really hard, bent my fingers back, kicked me. Once she shoved me down the stairs and broke my arm!" Kalyna had told this story so many times she couldn't remember what parts of it were true. Although her parents had used corporal punishment, she was pretty sure they'd never broken her arm. But it didn't matter. Their cruelty went beyond spanking.

"Is there a record of that? Did she take you to a doctor or hospital?"

"No. It had to heal on its own. Luckily it was probably only a fracture."

The gritty feel of the bricks behind her seeped into Kalyna's consciousness, and the temptation to bang her head began to well up like bile. Sometimes the desire to destroy herself stole over her, a kind of madness so consuming that once it took root, she couldn't overcome it.

She wanted to knock herself senseless, claw at her arms and face, pull out her hair.
I hate you. I hate you,
she kept saying in her mind. But she wasn't sure if she was addressing Ava Bixby, her adoptive mothers, her birth 90

mother or herself.

"Kalyna, listen to me! Calm down so we can talk."

"What?" She was already yanking on her hair, pulling out a fistful.

"Did anyone ever see the bruises your mother left?"

"Of course. But she'd tell them what she told you. That I hurt myself."

Tatiana poked her head out of the restaurant. "Kalyna--" She fell silent when she saw Kalyna crying. "Are you okay?"

Her sister's appearance made Kalyna let go of her hair. She couldn't bang or scratch or pull, not in Tati's presence. She'd promised her family she'd stopped all that, that it was a childish compulsion she'd outgrown.

They wouldn't believe she was what she said she was if they knew she was stil injuring herself. "No, I'm not okay!" she told Tati. "I need you. I need you to come here."

Tatiana rushed forward. "What is it?"

"They're going to let him off. They're going to let him go."

"Who?"

Kalyna made no attempt to hide or wipe her tears. "The man who raped me!"

Her sister began to stutter. "They--they won't do that if--if there's enough evidence to convict him."

"They won't if you tell this lady the truth."

"What?"

"My sister wil tell you what it was like," she said into the phone. "She saw it al --went through it, too." She thrust her cell at Tati.

Tati tried to swat it away. "No! What are you doing?"

"You have to tell Ava what Mom did to us. You have to tell her about the beatings."

Her eyes as round as silver dollars, Tati made a second attempt to refuse the phone, but Kalyna was having none of it. "Do it," she whispered.

"But I don't want to get involved!"

"Come on. You're my sister!"

The misery that registered on Tati's face revealed how torn she felt.

What the hell was happening that even her twin sister would hesitate to help her? Was
everyone
in her life bound to disappoint her?

"If you won't do this for me, I'l leave, disappear, and you'l never see 91

me again!" Kalyna threatened.

"But, Kalyna--" Tati pleaded.

"Mom beat us!"

"No worse than most moms. And only when we acted up."

"I don't care. Al I'm asking is that you say it." She pressed the phone on her again.
"Say it!"

Keeping her hand over the mouthpiece, Tati opened her mouth to argue some more, but the murderous look Kalyna gave her quelled further protest. She put the phone to her ear. "H-hello?...Who's this?...I'm Tatiana...Yes...Kalyna's sister."

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."

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"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."

93

A
va 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 94

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 95

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?"

"Isn't it what you're saying?"

"You haven't slept with me in months. Why would tonight be any different? And if tonight
isn't
any different, we could hang out on the weekend."

"I thought you were going to the Bay Area to be with your kids on the Fourth."

"Is it the Fourth already?"

"Day after tomorrow. It's on Saturday."

"Damn, you're right." He hesitated. "Okay, what about next weekend?"

"That's fine. If it won't put you out too much."

He didn't seem to pick up on her sarcasm. "It won't put me out at all.

Let's grab a movie."

She nearly burst into laughter. With him, it was sex or a movie, and she always chose the movie. "Sure, give me a call."

The ringing of his cell phone woke Luke from a fitful sleep. He blinked, realized he was bound by blankets and not iron bars as he'd just dreamt, and breathed a sigh of relief. Then he checked the alarm clock on his nightstand. It was three in the morning. Who'd be calling him at this hour?

His mind immediately went to his younger sister and the trouble she'd managed to find lately, and the relief at being awakened from such a terrible dream disappeared. Was it his family? Had Jenny been hurt?

His arm shot out before the call could transfer to voice mail. Once he had the phone, the glowing LED screen enabled him to read his caller ID

despite the dark room. It said
Restricted
but that did little to calm him. His parents weren't very conversant with recent technology. He'd given them a cell phone for Christmas and shown them how to use it, but they stil hadn't incorporated it into their daily lives. Knowing them, they could be calling from a pay phone in the lobby of some hospital because they'd forgotten to charge it.

96

Swinging his legs over the bed to sit up, he punched the Talk button.

"Hello?"

"Luke?"

It was a female. But he didn't recognize the voice.

"Yes?"

"It's Kalyna."

A surge of righteous indignation made him clench his jaw. But he didn't hang up. He couldn't help hoping she wanted to apologize, to fix the mess she'd created. Before he'd hired his attorney and been told in no uncertain terms that he was not to contact her, he'd tried to reach her several times. He'd been convinced that having a conversation would solve everything. He'd never meant her any harm. But she wouldn't pick up or return his calls.

Until now. At last he had a chance to figure out what went so terribly wrong the night of June 6.

"What do you want?" he asked cautiously.

"To hear your voice."

"Excuse me?"

"I miss you."

After what she'd done to him? Where the hell was this coming from?

"Kalyna, how can you say that?"

"Because it's true. I want to feel you inside me again. I want your hands on my body and--"

"You're trying to ruin my life!"

His outburst caused a sulky silence. He was afraid she'd hang up if he didn't calm down, so he took a deep breath, fighting for control. He had to think, be careful. "I don't understand why you're going after me," he said, his voice as level as he could make it.

She responded as if any idiot would understand. "So we can be together."

"You've got to be joking." He had too much adrenaline flowing through his blood; he couldn't stay seated. Getting to his feet, he began pacing the length of the room. "If you don't stop, I'l be in prison, Kalyna.