High Stakes, page 22
“Tea,” Maria repeated firmly.
“We should probably wait until we take off,” Lara said. “That’s why Tanner went directly to the cockpit. He didn’t like it that we’ve stayed here this long. He wants to get on the move.”
“Whatever.” Maria was heading down the aisle. She dropped into a seat and started to buckle up. “We’re already taxiing back down the runway. He is in a hurry.”
But Tanner was running out of the cockpit. “Get down!” Then he was talking on the phone as he waved Rennell back to the door. “Get it open. Nikolai’s calling from the lobby of the hotel. We’re going to have company.” He glanced out the window. “They’re already on the field. Black Suburban Chevy. One of them has a rifle. He’ll be aiming at the tires. Stop him. Not final.”
It was already happening. Lara saw a man with a red cap looking down the scope of a rifle as the Chevy drove alongside the Gulfstream taxiing down the runway.
A shot!
But it pinged as it struck the tarmac instead of a tire. The shooter aimed again.
Rennell was at the open door, and he’d drawn his automatic. “Sorry,” he murmured. “No second chances allowed.” He aimed at the rifle. His shot hit the barrel and caused the rifle to skew to one side and fall off the vehicle to the tarmac.
Another rattle of bullets from Rennell’s automatic. The Suburban’s tires exploded one by one.
The vehicle cartwheeled across the tarmac and rammed against the fence!
“Done,” Rennell said. “Now help me get this damn door closed.”
Tanner was already beside him, struggling to close the door. They finally secured it, and Rennell leaned back against the wall. “At least you got that right.”
“I was on the phone talking to Nikolai and giving you moral support,” Tanner said, deadpan. “I didn’t want to get in your way.”
“You didn’t.” The plane was lifting off now and Rennell dropped into a chair. “Do we know who they were?”
“Not specifically. All Nikolai could tell was that they were asking the reception clerk a lot of questions about me, and they tore out very quickly when they got answers.”
Lara was making her way back to them. “Will that crash cause us any problems?”
Rennell shook his head. “I was careful. Tanner said not final. If anyone is hurt in that crash, it’s not because they were shot.”
Tanner shrugged. “And they were shooting at us first. They won’t be filing any reports.”
She frowned. “You asked Nikolai to come down to the lobby and watch for any problems?”
He nodded. “No one is any better at it. It’s always wise to cover your ass.”
“I can see that. I’ll remember from now on.” She started toward the galley. “But I think I’ll get that cup of tea for Maria that she wanted before all this began. She might need it more now.”
Rennell shook his head. “I doubt it. She’s tough. Just give her time and she’ll snap back.”
“I’m sure she’ll appreciate your opinion.” She smiled at him over her shoulder. “But I’ll still get her that tea.”
Chapter
12
Maria looked up as Lara handed her the cup of tea before sitting down beside her. “That was interesting. It appears that Volkov and Anton have been busy.” She took a sip of her tea. “It was close.”
“Perhaps not that close,” Lara said. “Neither Tanner nor Rennell seemed to be worried about it. They took it as a matter of course.”
“I’m glad they did. It gave me a feeling of comfort.” She made a wry face. “As far as it went. Watching bullets flying isn’t my favorite entertainment.”
“Rennell said it wouldn’t bother you.” Lara grinned. “He said you’d snap right back. It seems you’ve impressed him.”
“Because I talked back to him and didn’t give him his own way.” She shivered. “Maybe I wouldn’t have been that bold if I’d seen him take down a truckload of gunmen before I decided to go visiting.”
“Yes, you would. You’ve faced down Anton all these years. Rennell might be dangerous, but I haven’t noticed cruelty.” She smiled. “And he and Tanner seem to have an understanding these days. They’re very different, but perhaps the chance of going after Sandrino’s killer has developed a bond they never had before. I guess people change as situations change.”
“Well, I’ve noticed Rennell has a wicked sense of humor occasionally.” She looked down into the amber depths of her tea. “But I’ve only had to do what I had to do with Anton. It was my contribution to making sure that we’d survive. It was nothing like what they put you through with those damn Trials. I couldn’t stop them, and I couldn’t help you.” She lifted her gaze to Lara’s face. “But that’s over now. That’s why I’m refusing to sit this one out. You told Tanner that you’d look at it as another Trial. Well, so will I, Lara. But it’s one that I won’t let you face without me. So don’t try to sideline me or protect me. We’re in this together.”
“That’s going to be hard.” Lara’s voice was shaking. “You mean too much to me.”
Maria’s lips turned up in a wry smile. “Your Achilles’ heel? I hope I’ll be of more active help. I’ll work at it.” She finished her tea and put the cup in the holder. “And now it’s time for me to access that great computer and see what I can learn about Las Vegas before we touch down. Run back to Tanner and see what we’re going to be facing.”
She hesitated. “You don’t want to go with me?”
Maria shook her head. “I want to be part of the action, but I’m not going to try to take over.”
Lara grimaced. “And I’m probably going to have to face just holding my own. I wasn’t welcomed to the party.” She got to her feet. “But we’re still in this together, just like we’ve always been.” She leaned down and brushed a kiss on her cheek. “I promise, Maria.”
Then she turned and went up the aisle toward where Tanner and Rennell were sitting in the aisle in front of the cockpit. She dropped down across the aisle from them. “You talked to Kaskov a long time last night, Tanner. What did you find out? Don’t try to leave me out of it.”
“As if I’d stand a chance,” Tanner said wryly. “Kaskov did do his research but there were blanks about Volkov’s personality and you might be able to fill them in for me. You probably know him better than anyone.”
“Only one side.” Her lips twisted. “And it’s not a pretty side.”
“I doubt he’s multidimensional. You probably know more than you think you do.”
“What do you need to know about him?”
“His strengths, his weakness, his vanities, his tells.”
“Tells?”
“In a poker game, it’s a change in a player’s demeanor or behavior that can give clues to his hand. In real-life situations, it can be the ultimate character betrayal that will let you take him down. You study him until you find it.”
Her gaze narrowed on his face. His silences, the way he watched, the way he was always one step ahead. “Is that what you do?”
“Sometimes.”
“All the time,” Rennell said. He got to his feet. “And he has since the time he ended up at Sandrino Place when he was fourteen. It can be exhausting trying to keep up with that. The only one who really liked it was Sandrino—it fascinated him.”
“But not you?”
“Hell no, it was an intrusion.”
“It wasn’t intentional,” Tanner said quietly. “It was a coping mechanism from the time I was a kid.”
“I knew that, but it didn’t help.” He smiled crookedly at Lara. “Like I said, it didn’t bother Sandrino. Maybe it won’t bother you. But a little goes a long way. The only thing that’s good about it is that it works.” He started down the aisle. “I need a cup of coffee.”
Tanner glanced ruefully at Lara. “You don’t have to worry about it. I don’t know what you’re going to do two-thirds of the time.”
“I think you do. But I don’t really care. Most of the time it’s not worthwhile trying to hide what you are. I’m not that complicated.”
He shook his head. “Wow. What an enormous fib. Or maybe you just don’t know.” He leaned back in his seat. “Tell me about Volkov.”
“He’s cruel, egotistical, narcissistic. But he’s not stupid, he can be very cunning, and he always has to be seen as the smartest and the most admired man in the room. He’s rich and influential and he loves gambling and has a passion for collecting rare cars.” Her mouth twisted. “And he’s very proud of his macho image and has a horror of being laughed at. Which is how Maria managed to keep him from killing me that day.” She paused. “But believe me, he always gets his revenge. He has a long memory and never forgets. He can get very elaborate in the execution.” She shrugged. “The reason he’s so determined to get hold of me now is that he’s enraged. He’d almost reached his grand finale, and then I skipped out.”
“I believe we’ll move away from how he treated you.” His lips had tightened. “It’s beginning to make me angry and disturbing my clarity. Let’s go to women. Is there any woman he uses frequently?”
She shook her head. “He enjoys S and M. I told you how much he likes torture. But he usually uses whores. When he’s at his property, he likes to use the workers from the marijuana fields. I think it gives him a feeling of dominance. Master of all he surveys. He’s done that for years.” She added bitterly, “I know he’d like to do that with me. He convinced my father that he should do the same with his workers. Anton almost always goes along with whatever Volkov suggests.” She paused. “Do you mind if I don’t say any more. This…upsets me.”
Tanner nodded. “It upsets me, too. The son of a bitch.”
“Yes. Do you want to know anything else? I don’t think I can help you about those vanities or strengths or tells you mentioned. Most of the time when I’m looking at him, I try not to really see him. I don’t want to know what’s there; it always frightens me.” Then she added quickly, “But I’m getting better all the time. I’ll be fine for whatever I have to do.”
“I’m sure you will,” he said gently. “And you’ve told me all I need to know. I can put the rest together when I see him face-to-face.” He added, “Tell me about the gambling. Kaskov said it was a big part of his life. It was definitely a part of his interaction with Sandrino. What do you know about that?”
She made a face. “Not much. I told you I didn’t like it. I saw Anton and Volkov at the casinos sometimes, and I know he played poker with Anton some evenings when he couldn’t get anyone else to play with him. He thought Anton was a terrible player and not worthy of him. He was very proud of his reputation as a great poker player. He was always bragging to Anton. I guess he was pretty good. I know he traveled all over the world to play cards.” She frowned. “And he’d get furious when he lost. He was always claiming someone must have cheated him or he would have won.” She shook her head. “That’s all I know, Tanner.”
“And it gives me a good background for what Kaskov told me about his card game with Sandrino in Ukraine.” He put up his hand. “He lost to Sandrino, which would mean anger, rejection, and desire for revenge. Then he lost again and that would have triggered the same response. Then he decided to try one more time, but not where his friends could see his humiliation if he lost again. He set up the game in Las Vegas.” He added, “And set it up in a place where there weren’t any major players so the word wouldn’t get around about the game. I was wondering why I hadn’t heard of it.”
“Everyone knows about Las Vegas.”
“But not if the game took place an hour outside Las Vegas near the Muddy Mountains. Kaskov said it was held at an old saloon-casino that closed down in the ’fifties and was only offered as an occasional rental property after that time. Volkov rented it for the game.”
“Muddy Mountains,” she repeated distastefully. “Not exactly an appealing name to lure someone to a location.”
He smiled with amusement. “Gamblers generally don’t give a damn about what a place is called or where it’s located. The only thing important is the game, the stakes, or who’s playing. I played one of my most profitable games at a shack near a diamond mine in South Africa.” He added, “But the Muddy Mountains aren’t as drab as they sound. They’re part of a wilderness preserve that has good hiking and great, sometimes exotic views like the Bowl of Fire.” His smile faded. “And Sandrino was different from most gamblers. He’d been at the top so long that he got bored easily. He’d spent a lot more time at home that year and only occasionally was tempted to take off for Europe or Asia for a game. Yeah, he might have been attracted by something else other than a chance to beat Volkov again.”
“How did Kaskov know that Volkov had found that place in the Muddy Mountains?”
“Money, contacts. You can find anything if you want it bad enough.”
“He said he couldn’t be sure Volkov killed Sandrino.”
“No, but he had the man who set up the game for Volkov interrogated. Lenny Walker. His statement was definitely incriminating, but he was too scared to say anything definite. He skittered away before he could be interrogated in depth. Kaskov said that I’d have to question him again when I got to Las Vegas.” He added grimly, “He’ll talk to me.”
“And then?”
“We get Volkov back to Las Vegas to tell me all about that visit eighteen months ago. Once he knows that Walker is talking, we may not have any trouble bringing him back there. If he’s as proud as you say about his reputation as a gambler, he’s not going to want anyone to know that he might have killed Sandrino when he was in a rage because he’d lost to him again. Not the thing to do among his gambling brethren. He’d be ostracized. It kind of discourages anyone from wanting to play cards with you.”
“What if you can’t find Walker?”
“Then we wait for Volkov to zero in on us. His men saw us at the airport, and this Gulfstream is rather showy. He won’t have trouble tracing it if we park it in a spot at one of the Vegas airports that’s equally showy. I don’t want to make it too difficult for him.”
“That’s two.” She shook her head. “I hate to ask you to go for three.”
“Then don’t. I’d have to think, and I’d much rather go for the obvious.” He stared her in the eye. “But I’d do it if I had to. Because I can’t stop now. We’re going to do this, Lara.”
“I know we are. I’m just a little overcome at the moment.” She forced a smile. “But I’ll get with the program. I’ve just been a little intimidated by being pushed to the side while you and Rennell take over the action. Usually that’s not the way it is.”
“Do you think I don’t know that?” he said roughly. “Well, I like it that way. Give me a break. It’s not going to last forever.” Then he sighed. “Sorry. I’m a bit on edge. Can I make it up to you by making you and Maria an omelet?”
She smiled. “What? Another omelet? That’s a supreme sacrifice. You said you don’t like to cook.”
“Well, maybe I’ll con Rennell into doing it. He doesn’t mind.” He got to his feet. “Or maybe I’ll do it myself so that you’ll realize I’m a true penitent.” He reached down and pulled her to her feet. “I just don’t like the idea of bringing you into this brouhaha. I didn’t care for those bullets flying around you today.”
“They were mostly Rennell’s bullets, and they weren’t around me.”
“Don’t quibble. It was the concept that counts.”
“It most certainly does not.” She was studying him. As usual, she couldn’t read him. There were elements of hardness and recklessness and yet something else that was deeper, twisted, and hurtful. “What does count, Tanner? Why are you talking such nonsense?”
He looked away from her. “I don’t like the idea of what might have happened to Sandrino. And I don’t like what I might be dragging you into, when your whole life has been shit. And I know I’m going to do it anyway.” He glanced back at her with a bitter smile. “So I’ll make you a damn omelet to make up for it. Because that’s the kind of wonderful guy I am.”
“Bullshit.” She pulled away from him. “It’s my choice, so shut up about it. It’s an insult for you to think that it has anything to do with you. Maybe I didn’t have such a great life, so what? You didn’t, either. At least I had Maria. And I’m trying my best to make it better, and you’re trying to help me. I’m no victim. I won’t be anyone’s victim. I’ve already done that.”
He was staring at her, stunned. Then he slowly smiled. “Anything else?”
“Yeah, make me and Maria that omelet and it better be good. I deserve it.”
“It will be magnificent.” He took her elbow again. “You’ll never have a better omelet. I’ll even make one for Rennell, and you can’t imagine the abuse I’ll have to take from him.”
Her lips were curving a little. “Yes, I can.” The smile became catlike. “And how I’ll enjoy it.”
* * *
“I’ve just had word about Tanner,” Anton said eagerly as he strode into Volkov’s suite. “The team I sent to Indian Hills located him, and he took off in the same Gulfstream he was reported to have left Stockholm in.”
“Took off?” Volkov couldn’t believe what the idiot was saying. “Are you telling me he got away from you again?”
“We just missed him,” Anton said quickly. “But the receptionist at the hotel said that he was with a woman of Lara’s description so she’s still with him. And that Gulfstream won’t be hard to trace, it’s almost one of a kind. I’ll get right on it.”
“You bet you will,” Volkov said grimly as he leaned back in his chair “Tanner has made a fool of both of us. I won’t tolerate this, Anton.”
“He hasn’t exactly made a fool of us,” Anton said. “If anyone did that, it was that bitch Lara. All he did was take a job she offered him and run with it. As soon as I can contact him, I’ll try to negotiate to get her back.” He paused. “You are willing to pay top dollar?”
“I told you I would.” He added slowly, “If that’s what he wants. I’m not sure it is.”
“What else could he want?” Anton said, puzzled. “No matter how much money anyone has, if you offer them enough, they’ll take it. He’ll just tip his hat and walk away.”
