"Good. See you in about thirty minutes."
"I'l be there." Luke had skipped lunch because he was working out.
He was ravenous. But he wasn't about to risk missing this opportunity. With a parting glance at his favorite restaurant, he got back in his car and peeled out of the lot.
Ava was wearing a sundress and a pair of sandals. At first, she looked too young to be the woman he'd met last night. But as Luke drew closer, he recognized her dramatic haircut and wil owy body. He didn't see a car--any car--so he guessed she lived within walking distance.
The bait shop was closed. More of a shack than an actual store, it had peeling white paint and a padlock on the door, which was too warped to shut completely. A homemade sign out front bore the picture of a crudely drawn night crawler. Another sign in the window read Back at...A clock indicated 6:00 p.m. Luke wondered if it was merely a remnant from summers past. The place felt as if it had been shut up for some time.
Ava stood next to a rusty gas pump with a third sign--Out of Order.
She stepped forward when he drove up, and he immediately saw the envelope in her hands. There it was. Copies of what was in his file, as promised.
Letting his engine idle, he lowered his window. "Nice place," he said, taking in the weeds that grew in clumps around the building and the shiny bits of colored glass that littered the broken asphalt.
She seemed surprised by his words. "You don't like it?"
"It's fine, I guess. Just an unlikely place for a single woman to live."
"How do you know I'm single?"
"You told me you've never been deeply in love. I'm hoping that would keep you from getting married." And she wasn't wearing a ring, but he didn't mention that, didn't want her to think he'd checked.
"Oh, right. I forgot we discussed that."
And she obviously didn't want to talk about it now. "What brought you out here?" he asked.
"It's got character."
He bent forward to take another look around. "I'd have to agree with you there."
"You should see the old guy who owns this place. He's as decrepit as his shop but really nice."
"He's not around?"
"Not this month. He's traveling from state to state, visiting family."
"And the other two people who live in Penrington? What do they do for a living?"
"They're a married couple, both of them environmental scientists.
They're currently studying how ammonia from Sacramento waste can hurt the delicate ecosystem."
"Where do they live?"
"You can't see their house from here. They're not at home. They told me they were going into town for dinner and fireworks."
He realized his radio was playing rather loudly and turned down the volume. "Why didn't you stay in town so you could see the show?"
"I needed to give you this." She handed him the envelope, and he put it on his passenger seat.
"We could've met in Sacramento."
"I didn't plan to see the show, anyway." She backed up and tossed him a quick smile. "Good luck!"
He stayed where he was, trying to think of a way to make the offer he'd discussed with his mother.
"Is there anything else?" she asked when he didn't drive off.
He slung his arm out the window as he studied her. "Why are you helping me?"
"Because I believe you're innocent."
"You thought I was innocent last night, too. You could've had me follow you to the office and given me a copy of the file then."
She squinted into the distance, then approached the car. "I talked to Kalyna after I left you."
"And?"
"And I think you're right. She's crazy."
"What did she say?"
"You mean, besides calling me an evil bitch and telling me she hopes I'l burn in hell?"
Apparently, Ava had caught a glimpse of the Kalyna he knew.
"Welcome to the dark side."
"No kidding. She changed so fast I thought she was possessed."
He chuckled. "It only comes out when she doesn't get what she wants."
"There's something missing in her. I'm afraid she might be dangerous."
"Physically?"
Ava's expression grew contemplative. "You never know. We've seen that she's vengeful."
"Those couples you mentioned, who dock near you?"
"What about them?"
"They're there now, right?"
"Actually, they're on a fishing trip. Why?"
Because if Ava got into trouble there'd be no one to help her. Maybe it came from his military training, but Luke immediately recognized her vulnerability. "Does Kalyna know where you live?"
"No."
"That's good."
"I wasn't thinking of me," Ava said.
"She's not going to hurt me, " he responded. The very idea seemed preposterous. But then he hadn't expected Kalyna to do any of the things she'd already done.
"You can't protect yourself against some weapons." Forming her fingers into the shape of a gun, she pulled the imaginary trigger. "And I'm guessing she knows where you live--or she can find out."
"At this point, I think I'm more tempted to shoot her, " he admitted.
"She's already got me by the b--er, throat. What more could she want from me?"
Ava's smile was mocking. "Are you kidding? She's never touched a man who's bigger and thicker than you are."
She was teasing him, rubbing his nose in his bad behavior. Luke's neck and ears burned, but he grinned. "I might've been exaggerating."
"A lot or a little?"
She was pressing her advantage, so he put her in her place. "Are you hinting that you'd like to see for yourself?"
When her eyes widened, he knew he'd turned the tables on her, as he'd planned. But the spark that'd flashed between them last night suddenly flared up again, surprising him. The instant tightening in his groin reminded him how quickly a man could bounce back from a bad experience like Kalyna.
But Ava? Was he out of his mind? She wasn't his type at all. Maybe she was cuter than he'd first thought. She looked a lot more feminine in this dress than that nondescript suit she'd been wearing before. But she was independent to a fault, fussy, bossy and stubborn. And that was just what he'd learned about her so far.
Fortunately, she laughed and raised her hands in the classic halt motion, which eased the tension. "Okay, I asked for that," she said. "But I think we should stop there. Have a nice life, Luke Trussell. And watch your back. You never know what Kalyna might do next."