The Perfect Liar Read Online Free PDF Page A

created hit with the intended impact. "Sometimes."
    "Isn't that il egal?"
    "That depends."
    "On what?"
    "On what we admitted doing."
    "Meaning..."
    "We had to wash the blood and embalming fluid off the tables and mop up the floor. You don't need to be certified to clean up." She could stil remember the smell. She'd always remember the smell.
    The prosecutor grimaced. "Where were your adoptive parents?"
    "My father was usually at the morgue, picking up another body, or driving the hearse to the cemetery. Or maybe it was late and he'd gone to bed. My mother refused to work in the preparation area or what we called
    'the back end.'" That was why the Harters were wil ing to take over when the Robinsons didn't want them anymore. They'd been attracted by the potential for slave labor, not the joy of raising children. And they didn't want Kalyna and Tatiana to attend school and circulate in the community for fear they'd say too much about their situation, which might have brought attention and interference. Norma would never admit it, but Kalyna knew the truth.
    "You were sometimes up later than your father?" the major asked.
    "Al the time. He'd get us out of bed, if necessary."
    She rocked back. "That's terrible! And this continued until...when?"
    "Until I joined the air force. But as we got older, we did hair and makeup on dead people, not just the cleanup. You don't need to be certified for that, either." Her sister was stil stuck in Arizona, handling stiffs.
    They hadn't even been permitted to apply for college. When Kalyna joined the military, she'd had to leave Tatiana behind. The air force wouldn't take her sister. Tati had epilepsy. She was too timid, too fearful, to leave what was familiar to her, anyway.
    "How old were you when you entered the armed services?"
    "Eighteen."
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    "So you enlisted as soon as possible."
    Feeling more confident by the minute, Kalyna nodded. She could convince anyone of anything. She didn't have to worry.
    "Where's your sister now?" the prosecutor asked.
    "Tati stil lives with my parents."
    Ogitani shook her head. "What a life."
    Kalyna dropped her voice to a whisper. "I'm out of it now. That's all that matters."
    The prosecutor straightened her skirt. "Kalyna, I hate to ask you this, but...would you mind if we talked a bit about your background in court?"
    This was the most personable Ogitani had been. Maybe there was a human element to the android, after all, Kalyna thought wryly. Ava had struggled with her emotions, too, but Kalyna could tell she was a big softie.
    Too soft, which was why she'd tried to counteract the empathy she felt by maintaining some distance. "My background? Why? That doesn't have anything to do with Captain Trussell."
    "It might explain why you acted the way you did with him. And the more the jury feels they know you, the more they'l invest in your life and challenges, and the better our chances of having them see the situation with Captain Trussell through your eyes."
    "But I don't like talking about the past."
    "I think it wil be extremely helpful."
    She remained silent long enough to convince the major she was wrestling with the decision. "Okay," she said at last. "If we have to."
    "It might bring back some painful memories. I'l apologize for that now."
    "It'l be okay." Especially if it would help the case against Luke. He deserved to be punished. She wouldn't be taken so lightly. By anyone.
    "Do you have any contact with your parents?"
    "Not much." She hated all three sets--her American parents and her Ukrainian ones, including the father who'd run out on her real mother before she and her sister were born.
    "I can see why." Major Ogitani made a few more notes. "Now, what happened on the night of June 6?" she asked, looking up again.
    Kalyna knotted her fingers in her lap. This was the tricky part. She 33

    had to be careful her story didn't change from what she'd already told the police, and Ava Bixby, had to be sure any new details she offered created no