"It's too late for that."
"Then why'd you call back?"
"Because I think it's only fair to warn you."
"About what?"
"Now that I'm carrying your baby, I won't take kindly to being cheated on. You'd better not be seeing anyone else."
Ava and Luke exchanged glances. The baby remark stunned Ava, but Luke didn't make any reference to it. "I can see anyone I want, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."
"Wanna bet?" she challenged.
"What are you talking about, Kalyna?"
"I'l tell you what I'm talking about. If you so much as
look
at another woman,
I'l kil her."
Luke didn't respond right away. If Ava had her guess, he was at a loss for words. "I hope you don't mean that literally," he finally said.
"Oh, I mean it. I know how to do it, too."
Ava had heard enough. If she'd had any remaining doubt that Kalyna had lied from the outset, it was gone now. "Kalyna, stop threatening people, 171
or you'l end up in serious trouble yourself," she said into the phone.
This met with shocked silence. Then there was a click and Kalyna was gone.
Waiting for the adrenaline pumping through her system to abate, Ava shifted to the opposite end of the couch.
Luke rocked back and stared at her. "Do you think she was serious?"
A chil ing sense of foreboding told Ava that she was. Kalyna was unconcerned about the pain she inflicted on others, a liar--probably pathological--completely narcissistic. "Maybe."
"But people get upset and say stuff like that al the time." He didn't want to believe it. He hadn't come up against anything like this before.
Although he'd never gone to war, all the enemies he'd imagined facing were properly labeled and wearing a different uniform. Kalyna was part of his flight crew, a comrade, a woman.
"Are you seeing anyone right now?" she asked.
"No."
"Good thing."
He sank lower. "What kind of consequences would she face for making these threats?"
"Nothing serious or long-lasting enough to render her incapable of acting on them."
"You mean, there are no consequences until she actually hurts someone?"
"Nothing that's going to be effective if her mind's made up." That was the problem Ava ran into all the time, especially with domestic disputes. But the police couldn't start throwing people in jail on speculation.
He rubbed a hand over his face. "Damn, where's this going to end?"
"Do you think it's true about the baby?" she asked.
"At this point, I don't know." He set his cell phone on the coffee table.
"They collected my semen at the hospital, so it's possible."
That had to scare the hell out of him. "What wil you do if it's true?"
"Try to gain custody."
"There's an example of family planning."
"No kidding."
Ava got up and crossed to the kitchen. "Can I get you a drink?"
172
Blowing out a sigh, he dropped his head on the back of the couch and gazed up at the ceiling. "Right now I could drink an entire bottle."
Everyone was asleep.
Now that she'd finished packing, Kalyna took a last look at her sister and felt a strange pang. She doubted she'd be coming home again. There wasn't anything for her here. Her parents were even less tolerant, less accepting, of her than they'd been before. She'd hardly exchanged a civil word with them since she'd arrived. But she'd never gotten along with them so she could've dealt with that. It was her sister who broke her heart.
Tatiana was the only person Kalyna had ever loved and yet...she didn't know this version. These days Tatiana was so influenced by Dewayne and Norma she felt guilty about letting so much as a cussword slip out. And she said she was finally happy. What she meant was that she was happy with
them,
happier without Kalyna.
This was the worst betrayal Kalyna had suffered so far. Now she had no one. No one to act as an anchor when she felt as if she was about to spin out of control. No one to save her from the void that threatened to consume her in the long, dark hours when she couldn't sleep.
She was truly alone.
Never had the memory of that girl she and Mark had tortured ten years ago felt closer. Maybe this was that stranger's revenge. She'd never done anything to Kalyna. Kalyna had kil ed her just because she could, because Mark was egging her on. And she'd enjoyed the power it gave her.
That was why she hadn't wanted to spend time with Mark anymore. He'd made her too much like him.
Kalyna checked her wallet for what was left of the money she'd earned at the bar last night. She'd spent most of it at the mall earlier today, flashing it around for Tatiana's sake. After borrowing the money for that pregnancy test, she'd told Tati that her paycheck had been electronically deposited, even though it wasn't due for a week. She hadn't wanted her sister to think she was absolutely broke. She spent too much time trying to convince her she'd done the right thing when she joined the air force, that she had plenty of whatever she needed. It wasn't as though she'd spent it all on herself. She'd bought Tati a cute pair of jeans to make up for 173
screwing that Danny guy. Tatiana didn't know about it, but Kalyna had made it up to her, anyway. That was nice, wasn't it?
Of course. The money was well-spent. But now Kalyna wasn't sure how she'd get home.
Dropping to her hands and knees, she looked behind the trundle for Tati's purse. It wasn't on the desk or anywhere else she could see. Nor was it under the bed. But it had to be somewhere. Maybe up in the kitchen.
Careful not to make any noise, she opened the bedroom door and hefted her suitcase through the opening. She was about to climb the stairs when the door to the cooler caught her eye.
When she was little, she'd been frightened of that cooler. She didn't like the waxy skin, the blotchiness, the bloating that made it so obvious that the people in there weren't just sleeping. And yet...those corpses sort of appealed to her at the same time. They couldn't hurt her. They'd never be able to hurt her. They were powerless. It was the living she had to fear.
Crossing to the heavy door, she unlatched it and heard a small whoosh as the seal was broken. The cool air swirled around her, welcome as an embrace, while she eyed the four gurneys that awaited Tati's attention. One contained an old man, shriveled and already skeletal in appearance; another an old woman with liver spots; the third a middle-aged woman, and the fourth the woman's teenage boy. They'd both been kil ed in a drunk-driving accident. She'd never met any of them, and yet they were her friends, the only people who'd never rise up against her.
If Ava were here, she'd be as powerless as they were, Kalyna told herself. And, unlike that hitchhiker from years past, Ava deserved to die.
Not only did she pretend to be something she wasn't, she thought she could stab Kalyna in the back and get away with it.
It was time to eliminate Ava as a threat.
The stairs creaked as she climbed them, but she couldn't hear any other sound, except the
rat-a-tat-tat
of the automatic sprinklers outside. Her father watered at night so the hot Arizona sun wouldn't scorch the lawn. A mortuary had to have curb appeal, he said. Perfectly manicured grass had a soothing effect.
Once she reached the kitchen, Kalyna moved more quickly. Leaving her suitcase by the door, she began searching for Tati's purse--and came 174
across her mother's instead.
"Even better," she muttered, and carried it into the pantry, where she could safely turn on a light.
Bingo!
Her mother had nearly five hundred dollars in her wallet. She'd also put her wedding ring in her coin purse. Norma couldn't wear it anymore. Her hands were too swollen from the water retention caused by some of the meds she took for depression.
It was a pretty ring with a large, square-cut diamond. Kalyna shoved the money in her pocket, then slid the ring onto her wedding finger to see how it looked. Not bad. It was much more attractive on a young hand--
A noise drew Kalyna's attention to the doorway. Her mother stood there, bedding lines scoring the cheek with the mole, her dark hair, normally ratted in a fixed "do," flat on one side.
"What do you think you're doing?" Norma wasn't yel ing. Her voice was low, but the look in her eyes suggested serious trouble.
It was more than obvious what she was doing. She'd been caught in the act. So Kalyna decided to shrug it off as if it wasn't a big deal. She pulled the ring from her finger and returned it to her mother's coin purse. "I couldn't sleep, so I figured I'd get a jump on the drive home."
"You've got my purse." Favoring her bad knee, Norma stepped forward. Her weight was wreaking havoc with all her joints and had been for some time. "You were stealing from me."
"I wasn't
stealing,
" Kalyna said. "I was just borrowing a few bucks to get me home. I'l send it back to you as soon as I get my next paycheck."
"And my ring?"
"I was admiring it. What more would I want with it?"
"That's what I'd like to know. Give me my purse." Her tentlike nightgown bil owed around her as she limped forward to grab it. "What else did you take, huh?" she asked, rummaging through it. "Where're my diamond earrings?"
"I don't have them. I didn't even know they were in there."
"They're gone."
"I didn't take them!"
"Like hell! They can't disappear on their own." She snatched her wallet and opened it to find it empty. Then her face contorted with the 175
seething hatred Kalyna had sensed all along. "You little bitch! You took my money. You were planning on cleaning me out, weren't you!"
Her mother was starting to raise her voice. Kalyna knew the scene that would ensue if her father got wind of this. Tatiana would jump in, too, trying to calm everyone down--but she'd ultimately take Norma and Dewayne's side. She wouldn't see getting up in the middle of the night to pilfer from Norma's purse as borrowing, either. She would've forgiven her for stealing from her own purse; she'd done it before. But not Norma's.
Why didn't you tell me you needed money?
she'd whisper, wearing that disappointed expression she'd perfected in Kalyna's absence.
"Stop freaking out!" Kalyna said. "I was planning on paying you back, like I said. I'm just a little short on cash right now."
"I saw those packages you brought home today. What about all the money you spent at the mall?"
"I was trying to show Tati a good time."
Her mother couldn't even take her makeup off properly. Her eyebrows, normally penciled in, had been washed away, but mascara smudges beneath both eyes made her look like a raccoon. "And that means it's okay? You can spend your money however and whenever you please and then take money from me when you run out? You're unbelievable, you know that? Just when I think you can't surprise me anymore, you do something like this."
"There's a woman in California who's trying to sabotage my case,"
Kalyna explained. "She was supposed to be helping me, but now she's gone over to the other side. If I don't get back, she'l convince the prosecutor to drop the charges against the man who raped me."
"Oh, stop going on about being raped!" she cried. "You weren't raped.
That's the biggest farce I've heard yet." Dropping her purse, she went into the kitchen. "This is it, the last straw. I'm calling the police."
Kalyna followed hot on her heels. "To tell them what?"
"That you're a thief, a whore and a liar, that's what! You're not worth the air you breathe, Kalyna, and you never have been."
The anger Kalyna felt toward Ava and Luke and even Tatiana mingled with the hatred she felt toward her mother and quickly boiled down into a steely determination. "Stop saying that! I'm tired of hearing it!"
176
"I'l say whatever I want." She had her hand on the phone. Kalyna knew that if the police arrived it'd all be over. Even if they didn't put her in jail, they'd send her back to the base, and she'd pay whatever penalty her commanding officer decided to levy. She wouldn't evoke any sympathy when she'd just been busted for stealing. She'd lose favor with Ogitani, too, and Luke and Ava would get away with teaming up against her.
"Put the phone down," she said.
Her mother lifted her face, causing her double chins to wag. "Like hell I wil ." Then the tenor of her voice changed, and Kalyna knew someone had answered. "Hello? Yes, I'd like to report--"
Kalyna grabbed the phone and slammed it down before Norma could say any more. But she wasn't prepared for the hand that whipped around to slap her across the face. Stunned to think her sick, aging mother had actually struck her, she stood there with her ears ringing.
And then she snapped.
Lowering her shoulder, she shoved Norma into the counter. Norma grunted and opened her mouth to call out, but Kalyna grabbed her by the throat. Before she knew it, they were both on the floor and she was choking her mother for all she was worth. "This is how you make me feel. This is how you've always made me feel. How do you like it, huh?
How do you like
it?"
Her mother's eyes bulged from their sockets, her face turned blue, and her mouth opened and closed, but Kalyna kept squeezing, using the weight of her body when the strength in her hands gave out. She wouldn't let her whale of a mother cost her Luke. She wouldn't let her whale of a mother cost her anything. Finally, Norma would pay for what she'd done.
177
W
hen Luke woke the next morning, he found himself on Ava's recliner with a blanket tossed over him. She was on the couch, curled up and facing in the other direction. Her blanket had slipped onto the floor, leaving her uncovered and revealing her shapely legs. But it was the curve of her bare bottom beneath her sweatshirt--
his
sweatshirt--that really caught his attention.
She made such a pretty sight he didn't move right away. If he stirred she'd probably jump up, realize she'd been running around the house half-dressed and shove him toward the door. He remembered how she'd nearly leaped out of his car rather than invite him in. She did that when she got defensive. But she wasn't defensive now....