The Perfect Liar (39 page)

Kalyna was slightly worried that she wouldn't be able to get rid of the marks completely. She'd never kil ed in this way before, had no experience to rely on. And it was always the marks on the body that helped the police in those forensics shows. But this would be different. The ligatures wouldn't be on long enough to cause much damage and, provided the body stayed in the water for any length of time, Ava would be too bloated and discolored to make them obvious, anyway.

When it was over, she'd take the rock and the rope with her. Then tomorrow, or the day after, or maybe the day after that, someone would find 287

Ava floating in the river. Or, even better, the fish would eat her or she'd drift out to sea. Whatever happened at that point didn't matter to Kalyna, because she'd be back at work with nothing and no one to tie her to such a tragic accident.

And Luke would be hers.

Ava's mind was on the case in Arizona. It was easier to think about Norma's murder, to wonder about the progress Detective Morgan might be making, than to think about Luke. And she certainly didn't want to concentrate on what her father was telling her, or she'd run from the restaurant screaming in frustration. Ever since they'd sat down, he'd been talking about Carly, extolling her virtues and trying to convince Ava--

probably himself, too--that she wasn't as bad as she seemed. He actually said she'd calm down and grow up "eventually."

When?
Ava wanted to ask. She didn't see Carly's behavior improving in the least. Why would it? There was no incentive for change. If she threw a fit because Chuck wanted to go fishing, he didn't go fishing. If she threw a fit because Chuck was planning to see his daughter, he canceled the engagement. He did anything and everything she demanded.

So why was he lying to himself? Why did he put up with her? That was what Ava couldn't figure out. Could having a trophy wife be that important to his ego? It had to be. What else did she have to hold him?

The reason he stayed with Carly was a combination of pride, ego and fear, she decided. Her father hated the thought of being alone, especially now that he was getting older. But he was stil a handsome man. He wouldn't be alone for long. He never had been.

"Ava? Are you listening?" he asked.

She blinked and refocused. Trying to downplay his sudden appearance on her doorstep, he'd said Carly had made him his favorite meal as a peace offering the last time they'd had a disagreement. As if that made up for her petty jealousies and selfishness. And then he'd said something else, but she hadn't caught it.

"Sorry, I--I have a lot on my mind. What was that?" she asked.

"I said, you don't think much of her, do you?"

The resignation in his tone astonished Ava. She wasn't sure how 288

they'd gone from the usual sales pitch--
she means well, she's just high-spirited; her temper gets hold of her, but she has a good heart
--to a comment so blunt and honest.

Ava opened her mouth to lie and say she did. She knew the price of admission into her father's life. She had to pretend to like whatever woman he had at his side because that woman always came before she did. But she couldn't do it today. She was too tired of fighting that battle, a battle she could never win--at least not with Carly.

Tensing, she met his eyes. "No."

He set down his fork. "She's not as bad as you might think, Ava."

"That's what you keep telling me. How many times have you said it just today?" she asked.

"I'm hoping that someday you'l believe it. I'm trying to build a bridge between you."

By making it all
her
responsibility?

"Carly would like to be closer to you," he said. "She tells me that all the time."

Because it sounded good. Because he wanted to hear it, wanted to believe it. But Carly never acted on that sentiment, never put forth one bit of effort. She made it clear that she preferred just the opposite. "Then why doesn't she ever want to see me?" Ava asked.

"She can sense that you don't like her, babe. It makes her uncomfortable. It would make anyone uncomfortable."

Ava rocked back. "So it's
my
fault?"

"I'm not saying that. I'm just asking you to look a little deeper, try a little harder."

Ava covered her face.

"Are you listening?"

"I'm trying, but..."

"But what?"

She dropped her hands. "It's so hard to watch you making a fool of yourself over a childish brat."

His face flushed red and he shot to his feet. "When you talk like that, you sound as jealous as she claims you are."

"I'm
jealous? I'm your daughter. I should be entitled to at least some 289

of your attention."

"Don't do this to me," he said. "Not now. I'm going to make my marriage work."

"But don't you see?" she cried. "It takes two. Two
adults.
There's nothing you can do. It's just a matter of time."

"Find your own way home!" he snapped, and stalked out. Then, adding insult to injury, the waitress brought her the check.

It was good to be back in her apartment again. For a while, Kalyna had thought she'd never see it again. While riding in Jerry's semi and envisioning her return to the country of her birth, she hadn't expected to miss it--but she knew better now. She couldn't even remember Ukraine, had no idea where she'd live if she moved there. No, she'd stay here, with Luke.

According to the clock that hung on the same wal as her TV, it was after three. She had a lot to do before tonight. She had to get to the laundry, as she'd promised, so Luke would think she'd been busy with that all day. She had to find an all-black outfit to wear to Ava's and buy some rope. And she couldn't get those items from a store located anywhere in the vicinity. She had to drive out of the area, somewhere the police wouldn't look, in case she was picked up on surveil ance video. She'd pay cash and destroy the receipts. Then she'd dispose of the rope by burying it in the woods when she was finished with it.

The entire drive from Ava's houseboat to Fairfield, she'd studied her plan, searching for potential problems, but she couldn't find anything wrong with it. She could improve on it by using someone else's car, of course, but she wasn't close enough to any of the women in her apartment complex to ask that kind of favor. And it would be an unusual request, which would draw attention to her--exactly what she needed to avoid.

Dragging her luggage into her bedroom, she opened it on the floor and pulled out her dirty clothes. As long as she was doing Luke's laundry, she might as well do her own. She wished she'd have time to make them some dinner, too, but she could do that tomorrow or the next night, when Ava was gone.

The thought of Luke made Kalyna want to call him, just to check in.

290

But her cell phone was dead and she couldn't change that until she went to the store to buy a new charger.

Maybe she could do that while she was out getting the rope. She was tempted to buy a few other things, as well--implements she could use to have a little more fun with Ava. If anyone deserved to die the way Sarah had, it was Ava Bixby. But if they found the body, there'd be an autopsy.

Kalyna couldn't do anything extra to punish Ava or it would show up on the body, and the whole point was to make her death look like an accident.

"You're getting off easy," she grumbled. Although Ava deserved more, paying with her life would have to be enough.

291

I
t wasn't hard to find Kalyna's apartment.

Tati began searching for her sister's car as soon as she drove onto the property, but she didn't see it. Either Kalyna was parked somewhere Tati had missed or she wasn't home. Most likely the latter, since it was only three-thirty on a Monday afternoon, and she was supposed to be at work.

After parking in one of two visitor slots near the rental office, Tati got out and started looking for #132. Built of typical California-style stucco and wood, the apartments were arranged in pods around a pool, all approachable from the outside. Hip-hop music came from a radio near two sunbathers who were enjoying the water and the sunshine. Tati thought it was nearly as hot here in Fairfield as it was in Mesa, Arizona, but there was more grass, not to mention lots more trees.

Kalyna's apartment was in the middle of its pod on the first floor. Tati knocked, but as she expected there was no answer. Hoping she could wait inside, she checked the door.

It was locked and there wasn't a key under the mat or over the door frame. She walked around the building to see if she could find some other way in, but all the windows were closed up tight. She returned to the door to double-check that she hadn't missed a spare hidden in the vicinity but once again found nothing. She was just thinking that maybe she should go to the closest mall or restaurant, where she could while away an hour or two in air-conditioned comfort, when Kalyna's next-door neighbor came strolling out.

"Hey, Kalyna." The woman had her car keys in her hand and would've passed right by, but Tati stopped her.

"Excuse me, but I'm not Kalyna."

The woman peered at her. "Oh, wow. You're not. I can see a few subtle differences now that I look a bit closer."

Tati immediately thought of the weight she'd put on in recent years, but this woman wasn't rude enough to specify
what
differences.

292

"For the most part you look exactly like her," she was saying.

"Amazing."

"We're identical twins." By now that was obvious, but people expected her to confirm what they saw. They liked hearing about twins, enjoyed the novelty.

"No kidding," the woman said. "What's your name?"

"Tatiana."

"It's nice to meet you, Tatiana. I'm Maria. How's your sister doing after the, um, attack?"

"She's okay, I think." With a glance at Kalyna's door, Tati said, "You don't happen to know when she might get home, do you?"

"It seems like she gets off around 4:00 p.m. most days. Is she expecting you?"

Tati didn't want to admit the number of times she'd called Kalyna without a response. "No. I didn't tell her I was coming. I wanted to surprise her. But now that she's not home and the door's locked, I don't know how to get in."

"Oh, I can help with that."

Tati felt her eyebrows go up. "You can?"

"Sure. When she moved in, Kalyna asked me to hold on to a key for her in case she ever locked herself out. It's in the cupboard above my fridge."

"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 293

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 294

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.