The Perfect Liar (5 page)

"No." She would never have allowed that.

"Can you tell me about his behavior as the night progressed?"

"He was fine at the Moby Dick. He was getting tipsy, but I didn't care.

We were relaxing, having fun."

"How did you wind up taking him home with you?"

"Like I said, I was lonely. He seemed to be a nice man, and I wanted to get to know him outside of work. To make a friend." She remembered Ava's reaction to this, how readily she'd accepted it.

"Up to this point, he'd done nothing to suggest he might be dangerous?"

"Nothing at all. I never would've dreamed him capable of--" She stopped.

A hint of commiseration flitted across the prosecutor's face but she seemed to fight it. Kalyna had never known anyone so stiff, so formal. Ava had knelt before her with tears in her eyes at this point in the story. "You don't have to go on until you're ready," she said.

Kalyna hid a smile. This was going even better than she could've hoped, every bit as well as the first two times she'd gone through the details. "After we danced for a while, and drank some more, we took a cab to my apartment."

"What time was it when the cab arrived at the bar?"

"Just after midnight."

"I'l contact the taxi company to substantiate that," she said as an 36

aside. "We want everyone to know that you got home very late, which meant that Captain Trussell didn't leave until early morning. If we can prove there wouldn't have been enough time for someone else to come in after he left, we'l have a huge advantage." She made another note. "And how were you dressed that evening, Sergeant? Were you wearing your uniform?"

"No. I was off base and tired of being a soldier. I wanted to feel like a woman, so I wore a dress." And she'd looked damn good in it. She'd turned a lot of heads that night.

"Would you say it was a modest dress?"

The hope in the investigator's voice tempted Kalyna to say,
"I
think so." Ava had asked the same thing and reacted the same way. But the police had taken the dress into evidence. Major Ogitani would see it for herself eventually.

At least it didn't look as provocative lying flat across a table as it did when Kalyna put it on. Right now--fortunately--the tear down the front stood out more than anything. "Maybe not by some standards," she admitted.

"Can you describe it for me?"

"It had a halter top."

"And the length?"

"It hit at midthigh." Actually, since she was so tall, it hit a little higher.

When she'd decided to wear it that night, she hadn't been concerned with having to defend her outfit. She'd been focused on catching Captain Trussell's eye--at last. Lord knew nothing else had worked. He'd remained polite but...guarded, distant. He was much warmer to the rest of the squadron, but they'd been together longer.

"So you had on a pretty dress, you were having a good time and you invited a handsome man home for a drink." Major Ogitani had given her recap the perfect spin, exactly what Kalyna thought would work in court.

"Yes."

"Not so different from what happens at bars all the time."

"That's right."

"When did it get ugly?"

"When we were sitting on the couch at my place." To appear more traumatized, she began wringing her hands. "We were watching Season Five of
Sex and the City,
and he started to kiss me. I was okay with that. I 37

was sorta interested in him. But when he slipped his hands under my dress, I got uncomfortable. He was too bold. And his attitude...It was as if he thought I had no right to refuse because I'd invited him over."

"Did you attempt to stop him?"

After getting lucky enough to gain his interest, only a fool would stop him. She couldn't have been more thril ed when he finally,
finally
touched her. "Yes."

"How did he react?"

"He laughed it off. But a few minutes later, he was trying to touch me again."

"What did you do the second time?"

"I shoved him away and asked him to leave."

"Did he listen?" Sympathy tinged the prosecutor's voice.

"No. He grabbed me by the neck and forced me to kiss him. Then he tore off my dress and--" she gulped for air, thinking fast, trying to be consistent "--and I tried to run away. But he caught me in the hall, shoved me to the ground and was on top of me before I could even blink. As I struggled, he yel ed at me, telling me I was a bitch and a tease and he'd take whatever he wanted to."

Major Ogitani didn't deal with emotion well. Kalyna had watched her trying to distance herself throughout the interview. Now she put some physical distance between them, as well, by getting up and moving to the window. "Go on..."

"I managed to wriggle out from underneath him while he was fumbling with his pants. I tried to run to my room, where I hoped to lock him out, but he grabbed my arm, slammed me into the wall and punched me in the face."

"With his
fist?"

"Yes. You can see the black eye he gave me in the pictures."

She started to get out the photos she'd insisted the Emergency Room doctor give her, but Ogitani shook her hand.

"They're in the file I received." Her voice betrayed no disgust, but Kalyna knew she was feeling it. She had her hands clasped behind her so tightly her knuckles were turning white. "Did you fight back?"

"Don't you think you should be writing this down?" Kalyna was doing 38

such a good job, she wanted to be sure Ogitani was getting it al .

"I plan to do a detailed recap as soon as we're done. You paint a vivid picture. Believe me, I won't forget." She took a deep breath. "Did you fight back?" she repeated.

"I couldn't. I was so dazed I didn't know what was happening." Which would conveniently explain why he had no injuries....

"And then?"

Apparently, Ogitani wanted the gritty details. Maybe she was secretly, getting off on it. "And then he was inside me, thrusting hard and fast, telling me how badly he wanted me and how he'd never met anyone else he wanted as much." Excited by the mere pretense, Kalyna squeezed her eyes shut so the major couldn't ascertain her true emotions. "I'l never forget his hot breath on my neck." At least that part was true. She'd never forget a second of it. Being with Luke had been the best experience of her life, even when they weren't making love.

Major Ogitani came over to crouch beside her. "Did you cry out, make any noise?"

"Yes." She'd moaned in ecstasy....

"Did anyone come to help?" Ogitani straightened as she asked this question.

"No! No one heard me. I stil can't believe it."

The major's pat on her shoulder didn't seem very natural, but the prosecutor's effort to console her made it easier for Kalyna to conjure up tears. "Are you okay?"

Kalyna sniffed and nodded.

"How'd you get to the hospital that night?" Her manner became indignant. "Don't tell me you had to drive yourself in that condition!"

"No. After he left, I--I stumbled to the apartment next door. My neighbor drove me. And...and the pictures show the rest."

"I appreciate the detailed account. I know it can't be pleasant to tell that story."

"It's not." Kalyna sniffed again. "But...do you...do you think it'l be worth it? Do you think we'l win?"

Major Ogitani worried her lip. "These are difficult cases to prove.

But...1 plan to do my best."

39

Shrinking away from her because the closeness of other women always made Kalyna uncomfortable, she slipped off her chair on the opposite side and stood. "Thank you."

Ogitani favored her with a smile. "You're welcome."

After they shook hands and Kalyna left, she allowed her smile to grow more self-satisfied. She had him. Luke Trussell would go to prison, where he'd be isolated and nearly forgotten by the outside world.

He'd need someone then. He'd need
her.
And that was when she'd forgive him. He'd finally realize they were meant to be together. There'd be letters and protestations of love. Conjugal visits. Maybe she could even have his baby.

Maybe she was pregnant now.
The thought sent a thril through her, the likes of which she'd never experienced. She doubted that what she'd emptied out of that discarded rubber would bring her the baby she craved, but there was always the possibility.

Either way, they'd be together eventually.

40

L
ate Wednesday morning, Ava spoke to the neighbor who'd driven Kalyna Harter to the hospital. They met at a smoothie place located just off base. Maria Sanchez was the first person to see Kalyna after the attack, so Ava was eager to speak with her. But Maria didn't want to get involved.

When Ava had first contacted her, she said she was too busy. After several calls, she'd allowed Ava to talk her into meeting, but only for a few minutes.

She'd come late, and she wasn't smiling when she approached the table.

"Hi." Her expression wary, she removed a pair of sunglasses to reveal wide-set brown eyes. "Are you..."

Ava held up the smoothie she'd bought while waiting. "Your juice date? Yes, I'm Ava Bixby from The Last Stand. You must be Maria Sanchez."

She nodded.

"Thanks for coming." Hoping to get Maria to relax, Ava offered her hand. Kalyna's neighbor clasped it reluctantly, briefly, and Ava indicated the empty side of the booth. "What can I get you?"

"Nothing, thanks," she said as she sat down.

"You don't want a smoothie?"

Maria didn't even glance at the list of drinks posted on the wall. "No, there's a lot more sugar in fruit smoothies than you might imagine."

The airman looked as if she took exercise as seriously as diet. Short and stocky, she had enough muscle mass to rival most men. "You're into health food?"

Ava could tell Maria didn't want to be drawn into a friendly conversation. She preferred to get through their meeting and be done with it. But she mumbled an explanation that was partially drowned out by the high whine of the mixers. "Everything I eat is organic."

"My friend Skye is constantly at me to improve my eating habits. I thought I was doing well by adding wheatgrass juice to this," she said with a laugh.

41

Maria fidgeted with the keys she'd carried in with her. "The wheatgrass juice is healthy, all right. It's the sugar you gotta watch."

"My problem is coffee. I'm too busy to slow down and eat properly."

She glanced at the door as if she couldn't wait to escape through it, but she didn't bolt. "Caffeine wil kil you."

Making another attempt to put her at ease, Ava indicated the cooler next to the cash register. "Are you sure you wouldn't like
something?

Maybe some plain juice?"

Maria relented enough to get a bottle of water, and Ava paid for it.

"You've probably guessed why I want to speak to you," Ava said as they returned to the table.

"Kalyna mentioned that you might be calling. But Major Ogitani already met with me. So did a man named Pledge McCreedy."

"McCreedy's the defense attorney."

"He was kind of a jerk."

Ava had never been particularly interested in the smoothie she'd ordered. Now that it didn't sound as healthy as she'd thought it was, she was even less interested. "It's his job to protect the defendant."

"He acted as if he didn't believe what I had to say."

"I'm not surprised." Notorious in Sacramento, Pledge McCreedy rarely lost a case, which made Ava more than a little defensive of her client.

The moment she'd heard that Captain Trussell had hired Mr.
McGreedy,
as they referred to him at The Last Stand, she'd become that much more determined to increase her own efforts.

"But I don't have any reason to lie. Like I told him and Ogitani, I don't know Kalyna very well," Maria said. "She lives in the apartment next to mine. We bump into each other in the hall, keep each other's spare key in case we ever get locked out, and she feeds my cat when I'm out of town.

She doesn't have a pet so I don't have to return the favor, but I have her over for a drink now and then to thank her. That's about it."

Ava studied her. Why was Maria so anxious? "I just want to hear your version of what happened the night you drove Ms. Harter to the hospital,"

she said. "Did you hear a ruckus going on next door?"

Maria put her car keys on the table. The key chain held her driver's license with some bil s rolled up under the plastic; she wasn't carrying a 42

purse. "No, but it was very late. And my job is physically demanding. When I sleep, I sleep."

"Not much wakes you."

"I could sleep through an earthquake. And I told McCreedy that, too."

"This close to San Francisco, you might be tested on that someday,"

Ava teased, stil working to calm her, to gain her confidence. "What about the other neighbors? Have you talked to them?"

"A young couple lives on the opposite side. They were gone.

Someone in the family was getting married. I doubt anyone else knew until the next day."

Ava kept her voice conversational, as if they'd been friends forever.

"I'l bet they were surprised. This type of thing doesn't happen in Fairfield very often, does it?"

"The neighbor across the hall, Petra, wasn't too surprised," she said.

"Petra?"

Her gaze lifted from her keys. "Lewis. She's in the air force, too."

"Why wasn't she surprised?"

"She said Kalyna probably deserved it."

Ava spooned up some of her smoothie, let it melt on her tongue. "For what?"

Maria blew out a sigh. "For the way she acts around men, I guess."

Although Maria didn't seem eager to explain, Ava continued her questions. "How does she act?"

Again, more hesitancy.

"Is she a little too friendly?" Ava guessed.

"You could say that. But it's not the only reason Petra doesn't like Kalyna," she hurried to add. "She says Kalyna's a lazy slouch. That she has an excuse for everything."

"Do you agree with that statement?"

"It's airmen like her who give women a bad name in the military." She fiddled with her keys. "But I try to mind my own business."