High Stakes, page 26
“Hopefully. But I’ve never liked to take chances. As you saw at the hotel yesterday. The apartment address is Three Eighty-Six Sunrise Place. Use GPS. I can’t give you directions. I’ve never been there. Just try to stop the block before you get there and let me get out.”
“Right.” She took off, listening carefully to the GPS. The directions were taking her to a poorer side of town. Shops. 7-Elevens. Grocery stores. Gas stations. She stopped. “Get out here. That should be it on the right.” She pointed to a gray three-story building with chipped paint and a wide porch with a broken swing. “It’s supposed to be on the second floor. Apartment Twelve-G. Where do you want me?”
“A hundred miles from here,” he murmured. His gaze was on the parking lot in front of apartment. “I don’t like that tan Subaru rental car in front of the entrance. Most of the other vehicles in the lot are pretty beat up and old, but that Subaru is sticking out. Just as ours would be if we parked over there. I’m going to check out the rest of the grounds and circle back around. Park at the curb over there.”
“How long?”
“Probably not more than fifteen minutes.” He was out of the car and disappearing into the backyard of the house to their left.
She started to count the minutes.
He’d said only fifteen…
But he was back in ten. And he looked very tense. She asked, “Trouble?”
“Not on the surface. No other vehicles in the parking lots or on the streets in the next three blocks that appeared suspicious.”
“But you never pay attention to surface. Tell me.”
“I don’t like that Subaru. I think it’s time I called Walker.”
He was already dialing. “If he answers and sounds weird, I’m in trouble. If he doesn’t answer, I’m still in trouble.” He listened. “He’s not answering. I’m going over the roof and down the back fire escape to get to him.”
“Why don’t I call the police?”
“Because if he’s still alive, I want to keep him that way. Nothing like police dropping in to cause a ruckus.” He was out of the car again. “Stay put.”
Her hands clenched on the steering wheel. She felt angry and helpless and wanted to hit someone. Stay put?
She stayed in the car for another few minutes, her eyes straining to see what was going on at the apartment house.
Nothing.
She grabbed a flashlight out of the glove box and jumped out of the car. The next moment she was crossing the street toward the Sunrise Apartments. How was she going to get to that second-floor apartment? Tanner had said he was going to go in the back way down the fire escape. Then stay out of his way and go in the front. She went past the Subaru and straight to the front entrance. She opened the screen door and went silently up the steps.
She heard a child crying on the first floor.
Nothing from the second floor yet.
She was almost to 12G. Still no sound.
Then the door to 12G exploded open and a dark man in a hoodie was catapulted out into the hall!
He saw her in front of him. “Shit!” He went on the attack. His fist plowed into her stomach. She lost her breath. She instinctively lifted the flashlight and brought it down on his head. When he staggered, her other hand came down in a karate chop on the back of his neck. She followed it with another blow to his throat and the man was lying unconscious on the floor at Lara’s feet.
“Out of the way, Lara.” It was Tanner following the attacker through the doorway. He looked down at the unconscious man on the floor and then shrugged. “Or not.” He gave her a quick look. “Okay?”
She nodded. “He…surprised me. I didn’t expect him to come through the door like he was blown from a cannon.” She added defensively, “Otherwise I would have been able to put him down sooner. Or if I’d had a gun. I should have had a gun.”
“Why? When you had that handy-dandy flashlight? I told you to stay put.”
“And then you walked away. I’ve told you I didn’t like that.”
“So you did. I’ll pay more attention next time.” He was dragging the man in the hoodie back into the apartment. “Come in and shut the door. We don’t want anyone tripping over bodies in the hall.”
“Bodies? Then she saw another man crumpled on the floor a few feet in front of an open doorway. “There were two of them?”
He nodded. “But he came in the bedroom when I was jumping in the window from the fire escape. I broke his neck, but the guy in the hoodie heard us and went after me.”
“And he was the one you tossed through the door?” She was looking around the apartment. “Where’s Walker?” She stopped, her gaze flying to the man lying in the doorway. “Was one of them—”
“No, Walker was supposed to be in his fifties.” His glance followed hers to the doorway. “I think he’s the man lying on the bed in the other room. I didn’t have time to examine him, but I don’t think he’s going to be telling us anything.”
She stiffened. “Dead?”
“I’ll go check in a minute.” He was taking off the man’s belt. “I need to tie this one up before he comes to.”
She watched him for an instant. “But what if Walker’s not dead? He might need help.” She was already through the open doorway. “Maybe we should take him to—” She stopped as she saw Walker’s face. His mouth was wide open in a silent scream. His eyes were glaring into nothingness. His shirt was covered with blood.
“You couldn’t wait, could you?” Tanner was standing behind her. “I didn’t want you to see it. It only took a glance for me to see that they’d decided to play with him before they’d killed him.”
“Why?” she whispered. “Why would they do that?”
“Probably for the same reason that they’d come after him in the beginning. Orders. Volkov probably thought that I’d somehow learned about Sandrino’s game here and went to the most logical source. Those guys look like the usual hoods for hire you see at casinos around the world. Volkov probably sent them to find Walker and keep him quiet or punish him for squealing on him.”
“Then it’s our fault. We should have gotten him out last night.”
“If we’d seen it in our magic ball. He was well hidden. Volkov probably went to the Albanians, who have no trouble getting any information they want as long as you don’t mind that they might kill a few bystanders along the way.”
“He was so scared, Tanner. He knew what a monster Volkov is.”
“And so do you. That’s one of the reasons you’re this upset.”
“I’ve got to stop him. He hates me, Tanner. He’ll hurt anyone I love. He’ll hurt Maria.”
He pushed her gently toward the door. “Come on. We’ve got to get out of here. But first I’ve got to search those guys and see if they found anything on Walker that we can use.” He was already swiftly going through their pockets. “Here’s something…” He pulled out a yellow sheet like ones they’d been examining yesterday and glanced at it. “May help. May not.” He took out their phones. “And I’ll check their phone history before we leave and see if they’ve made any calls that might strike a familiar note. After that I’ll turn them off and let their boss come look for them.”
She watched him check their phone history and write down a couple of numbers. “Definitely the Albanians. Which means Anton and Volkov are either here or on their way. Okay, that’s it.” He got to his feet. “Let me go first and see if there’s anyone around.”
“No. I’ll go with you.” Then she had a sudden thought. “I forgot something. I’ll be right back…” She heard Tanner cursing behind her as she ran into Walker’s bedroom. She shivered as she went over to the bed. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “We were going to try to get you away. I promise that we’ll punish Volkov.” She was searching all around the bed and the floor. “Just this one more thing…” She found it and ran back to Tanner. “We can go now.”
* * *
Tanner called Rennell on the way back to the safe house. “I need you to go to Walker’s ASAP. Don’t be seen. There’s a back fire escape you can take to the second floor. The room is Twelve-G.”
“I thought you were on your way there this morning.” He paused. “Did you kill him?”
“No, but there’s a cleanup to be done. He had visitors when we got there. Gangster affiliations. The Albanians. Walker is dead and the two men who did it are still there. One dead, the other tied up and gagged awaiting your services. Lara and I might have been seen so we need them all to be removed as discreetly as possible from the premises to another location. Preferably somewhere on the Strip so that you can use Walker as the victim he was and frame the other two goons so that the police or their bosses, the Albanians, will think they fouled up the job.”
“You have it all thought out,” Rennell said sarcastically. “Am I allowed to change it to suit myself?”
“By all means, use your ingenuity. Only a suggestion.” He asked quietly, “Do you need any help?”
“They’d only get in my way. You didn’t get to talk to Walker?”
“No, but I’ll make sure it won’t matter. I did find another piece of the puzzle that the Albanians stole from him.”
“Yes, you will, if you’re going to make me take on the Albanians.”
“As I said, use your ingenuity. If you need help, call me.”
“You’d really get in my way.” Rennell hung up.
“Will he be able to do that?” Lara asked.
“I wouldn’t have called him if he couldn’t. He’s totally experienced and he’s very innovative. Sandrino used to tell me stories about him.” He grimaced. “And I was involved in a few of them myself when I first came to live with Sandrino.” He glanced at her. “Don’t worry, neither the police nor the Albanians will be after us.”
“And what about Volkov?”
“Why should I promise you that? You’ve been telling me that I can’t keep you away from him.” He added grimly, “And you demonstrated it today, didn’t you?”
“Do you think he’s here in Vegas yet?”
“If he is, he hasn’t brought his entire crew or he wouldn’t have gone to the Albanians for outside help.” He paused. “But I think he’ll be here soon. So we’d better see what we can do to get ready for him. As soon as we get back to the safe house, we’d better start going over those scribbles Walker sent us and see if we can make anything of them.”
“I suppose I should have seen if there was anything else in his bedroom when I ran back that second time.”
“This last note I took from the Albanians was probably the only thing of any value. I can’t see Walker leaving anything valuable lying around when he had the entire casino area memorized. But I’ll call Rennell again and tell him to take a look when he’s there.” He looked at her. “I didn’t ask you why you went back.”
“Because you were pissed off that I wasn’t doing what you wanted. I forgot something.” She slipped her hand in her jacket pocket. “This.” She pulled the object out of her pocket and handed it to him. “I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to find it, but he’d dropped it on the floor.”
“The dog tags.” Tanner looked down at the metal in his palm. “You went back for this?”
“You told him you wanted them. They belong to you. There are probably memories. You should have them.” She moistened her lips. “There’s no blood on them. Walker must have wiped them clean.”
“Yeah.” He seemed to be having trouble looking away from the dog tags. “Only memories…” His gaze lifted to her face. His eyes were glittering, though his lips were taut. “I think you’ve done it now,” he said hoarsely. “I was doing pretty well. I was holding on, but you’ve blown it.”
She shook her head. “I did the right thing. They belong to you.”
“And I told you I could be very possessive about things that belong to me. That’s why I’m careful about that obsessive streak I mentioned. I never give up.”
She frowned. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying more than I should.” He suddenly smiled recklessly. “I’m telling you all bets are off, and you take care of yourself because I’m done with it. From now on you’re on your own.”
“I always have been.”
“And a remark like that would have immediately sent me reeling but not now. I won’t let it.” He looked away from her. “We’ll do what we both came here for, and we’ll come out of it on top. You’ll get what you want. I’ll definitely get what I want because I make a habit of winning.” She was driving through the gates. He looked over at her, smiling again. “But I’ll make sure you win, too, Lara. You won’t be sorry.”
“I’m not exactly sure what you’re talking about, and I don’t know if I like it.” She parked in front of the house and looked down at the dog tags in his palm. “And all of this was because I ran back and got your damn dog tags?”
“Small actions can trigger earthquakes.” His smile had deepened. “I felt the need to give you fair warning.” He opened his passenger door. “I feel more relieved than I have since you first woke up on the Gulfstream. Now let’s go inside and check out the last note I took from that Albanian and see if it’s going to help us.”
* * *
“You’ve got the midnight oil burning bright,” Rennell said as he walked into the library that night. “And all to welcome me back from the wars?”
“Among other things,” Tanner said dryly. “And was it a war?”
“I exaggerated a bit. It was more a piece of cake after I got them out of the apartment. But they’re all safely ensconced in a neighborhood not too far from the Strip in appropriate murderous positions that would put their Albanian bosses in a rage against his inept goons. I’ll place a call to the police in an hour or so and let them know that a gang war has obviously erupted in their completely sin-free city.”
“Sounds like an excellent job. I’ll give Kaskov a call and tell him to use his influence to smooth out any problems with the Albanians.”
“Couldn’t hurt.” He paused. “So what have you been doing while I’ve been busy saving your asses? Did that note you snagged at Walker’s pay any dividends?”
“It might have.” He handed him the note. “It’s much better crafted than the others; it was probably done last night after I’d agreed to protect Walker. It’s the Volkov mountain sketch, this time in detail. It even indicates a waterfall. He must have been feeling generous because he’d told me that he’d found those old dog tags I gave Sandrino in the brush near there. He probably knew I was going to ask him to take me there.”
Rennell was studying the sketch. “Interior and exterior. He did do a good job. Anything else?”
Tanner shook his head. “We’ve just been going over the other sketches again. Maria’s been comparing the lines and features in the sketches to the possible actual natural geographic features in the areas she found doing research in her computer. She was able to line up quite a few possibilities.”
“Sharp lady.”
“We’re all in agreement there,” Tanner said. “But we’ll still have to do on-the-ground visuals to find out how accurate she was.” He picked up the map sheet. “We can go only so far with this one before we run into areas where Walker indicated practically no features. After I leave the road, it looks like I’ll be on my own.”
“What about the casino?”
“When I get there, it will be pretty much the same. No friendly warnings of booby traps on the horizon.”
“Any word of Volkov showing up yet?”
“Mallory has one of his men monitoring the Gulfstream at the airport to see who comes knocking on their door. He said there was a report of someone asking questions at the rental car desk shortly after we landed. I’ll bet that they’re here in full force now and know we are, too. Which means we’ve got to get moving so they don’t zero in on us.” He tilted his head. “Or maybe make an advance move to stir the pot a little while we’re doing it. That may be a way to take the initiative. I don’t like the idea of the sitting around meekly waiting for an attack.”
“When did you ever do that?” Rennell asked dryly. “You were always raising hell if you couldn’t find any other way to get one of your games started. Sandrino used to laugh about it.”
“But I have to be more careful this time. Maybe just a few phone calls to my casinos in the east will light the bottle rocket. You complained I wasn’t moving fast enough; that should please you.”
“It will please me if you let me go after Volkov.” He added as he turned to go, “I can see you might be on the way now. Go ahead. Just don’t be too subtle.”
“I’ll try to obey your instructions,” Tanner said sarcastically as he reached for his phone. “Heaven forbid I don’t let Volkov know exactly what’s waiting for him.”
Chapter
14
What are you doing?” Lara asked Tanner as she came into the library thirty minutes later. He was on the floor, sitting cross-legged, leaning back against the couch.
“I’m just relaxing after a busy day and trying to follow Rennell’s advice to go for the bottle rocket and not be too subtle.” He reached up and pulled her down to sit beside him on the floor. “I placed a call and I’m waiting for a return.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I saw Rennell come down the driveway. Did everything go well?”
Tanner nodded. “He’d be insulted that you even asked. Are you and Maria finished for the night?”
“Until we can go out to the mountains and draw comparisons. It’s strange sitting here on the floor. I feel like a little kid.”
“That’s not bad. It’s back to basics. I spent a lot of time when I was a kid in back alleys shooting craps or playing cards. When I graduated to the bars, I thought I was big time.” He smiled. “I’ve always liked sitting on the floor. Sometimes I can think better. I can see how you might not be comfortable. You were probably sitting on a piano bench most of the time when you were a kid.”
She nodded. “When I wasn’t doing a Trial. But I’m getting used to this now. It’s just…strange.” She leaned back against the couch. “I can imagine you in those alleys. I bet you were really good at poker even then.”
“Right.” She took off, listening carefully to the GPS. The directions were taking her to a poorer side of town. Shops. 7-Elevens. Grocery stores. Gas stations. She stopped. “Get out here. That should be it on the right.” She pointed to a gray three-story building with chipped paint and a wide porch with a broken swing. “It’s supposed to be on the second floor. Apartment Twelve-G. Where do you want me?”
“A hundred miles from here,” he murmured. His gaze was on the parking lot in front of apartment. “I don’t like that tan Subaru rental car in front of the entrance. Most of the other vehicles in the lot are pretty beat up and old, but that Subaru is sticking out. Just as ours would be if we parked over there. I’m going to check out the rest of the grounds and circle back around. Park at the curb over there.”
“How long?”
“Probably not more than fifteen minutes.” He was out of the car and disappearing into the backyard of the house to their left.
She started to count the minutes.
He’d said only fifteen…
But he was back in ten. And he looked very tense. She asked, “Trouble?”
“Not on the surface. No other vehicles in the parking lots or on the streets in the next three blocks that appeared suspicious.”
“But you never pay attention to surface. Tell me.”
“I don’t like that Subaru. I think it’s time I called Walker.”
He was already dialing. “If he answers and sounds weird, I’m in trouble. If he doesn’t answer, I’m still in trouble.” He listened. “He’s not answering. I’m going over the roof and down the back fire escape to get to him.”
“Why don’t I call the police?”
“Because if he’s still alive, I want to keep him that way. Nothing like police dropping in to cause a ruckus.” He was out of the car again. “Stay put.”
Her hands clenched on the steering wheel. She felt angry and helpless and wanted to hit someone. Stay put?
She stayed in the car for another few minutes, her eyes straining to see what was going on at the apartment house.
Nothing.
She grabbed a flashlight out of the glove box and jumped out of the car. The next moment she was crossing the street toward the Sunrise Apartments. How was she going to get to that second-floor apartment? Tanner had said he was going to go in the back way down the fire escape. Then stay out of his way and go in the front. She went past the Subaru and straight to the front entrance. She opened the screen door and went silently up the steps.
She heard a child crying on the first floor.
Nothing from the second floor yet.
She was almost to 12G. Still no sound.
Then the door to 12G exploded open and a dark man in a hoodie was catapulted out into the hall!
He saw her in front of him. “Shit!” He went on the attack. His fist plowed into her stomach. She lost her breath. She instinctively lifted the flashlight and brought it down on his head. When he staggered, her other hand came down in a karate chop on the back of his neck. She followed it with another blow to his throat and the man was lying unconscious on the floor at Lara’s feet.
“Out of the way, Lara.” It was Tanner following the attacker through the doorway. He looked down at the unconscious man on the floor and then shrugged. “Or not.” He gave her a quick look. “Okay?”
She nodded. “He…surprised me. I didn’t expect him to come through the door like he was blown from a cannon.” She added defensively, “Otherwise I would have been able to put him down sooner. Or if I’d had a gun. I should have had a gun.”
“Why? When you had that handy-dandy flashlight? I told you to stay put.”
“And then you walked away. I’ve told you I didn’t like that.”
“So you did. I’ll pay more attention next time.” He was dragging the man in the hoodie back into the apartment. “Come in and shut the door. We don’t want anyone tripping over bodies in the hall.”
“Bodies? Then she saw another man crumpled on the floor a few feet in front of an open doorway. “There were two of them?”
He nodded. “But he came in the bedroom when I was jumping in the window from the fire escape. I broke his neck, but the guy in the hoodie heard us and went after me.”
“And he was the one you tossed through the door?” She was looking around the apartment. “Where’s Walker?” She stopped, her gaze flying to the man lying in the doorway. “Was one of them—”
“No, Walker was supposed to be in his fifties.” His glance followed hers to the doorway. “I think he’s the man lying on the bed in the other room. I didn’t have time to examine him, but I don’t think he’s going to be telling us anything.”
She stiffened. “Dead?”
“I’ll go check in a minute.” He was taking off the man’s belt. “I need to tie this one up before he comes to.”
She watched him for an instant. “But what if Walker’s not dead? He might need help.” She was already through the open doorway. “Maybe we should take him to—” She stopped as she saw Walker’s face. His mouth was wide open in a silent scream. His eyes were glaring into nothingness. His shirt was covered with blood.
“You couldn’t wait, could you?” Tanner was standing behind her. “I didn’t want you to see it. It only took a glance for me to see that they’d decided to play with him before they’d killed him.”
“Why?” she whispered. “Why would they do that?”
“Probably for the same reason that they’d come after him in the beginning. Orders. Volkov probably thought that I’d somehow learned about Sandrino’s game here and went to the most logical source. Those guys look like the usual hoods for hire you see at casinos around the world. Volkov probably sent them to find Walker and keep him quiet or punish him for squealing on him.”
“Then it’s our fault. We should have gotten him out last night.”
“If we’d seen it in our magic ball. He was well hidden. Volkov probably went to the Albanians, who have no trouble getting any information they want as long as you don’t mind that they might kill a few bystanders along the way.”
“He was so scared, Tanner. He knew what a monster Volkov is.”
“And so do you. That’s one of the reasons you’re this upset.”
“I’ve got to stop him. He hates me, Tanner. He’ll hurt anyone I love. He’ll hurt Maria.”
He pushed her gently toward the door. “Come on. We’ve got to get out of here. But first I’ve got to search those guys and see if they found anything on Walker that we can use.” He was already swiftly going through their pockets. “Here’s something…” He pulled out a yellow sheet like ones they’d been examining yesterday and glanced at it. “May help. May not.” He took out their phones. “And I’ll check their phone history before we leave and see if they’ve made any calls that might strike a familiar note. After that I’ll turn them off and let their boss come look for them.”
She watched him check their phone history and write down a couple of numbers. “Definitely the Albanians. Which means Anton and Volkov are either here or on their way. Okay, that’s it.” He got to his feet. “Let me go first and see if there’s anyone around.”
“No. I’ll go with you.” Then she had a sudden thought. “I forgot something. I’ll be right back…” She heard Tanner cursing behind her as she ran into Walker’s bedroom. She shivered as she went over to the bed. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “We were going to try to get you away. I promise that we’ll punish Volkov.” She was searching all around the bed and the floor. “Just this one more thing…” She found it and ran back to Tanner. “We can go now.”
* * *
Tanner called Rennell on the way back to the safe house. “I need you to go to Walker’s ASAP. Don’t be seen. There’s a back fire escape you can take to the second floor. The room is Twelve-G.”
“I thought you were on your way there this morning.” He paused. “Did you kill him?”
“No, but there’s a cleanup to be done. He had visitors when we got there. Gangster affiliations. The Albanians. Walker is dead and the two men who did it are still there. One dead, the other tied up and gagged awaiting your services. Lara and I might have been seen so we need them all to be removed as discreetly as possible from the premises to another location. Preferably somewhere on the Strip so that you can use Walker as the victim he was and frame the other two goons so that the police or their bosses, the Albanians, will think they fouled up the job.”
“You have it all thought out,” Rennell said sarcastically. “Am I allowed to change it to suit myself?”
“By all means, use your ingenuity. Only a suggestion.” He asked quietly, “Do you need any help?”
“They’d only get in my way. You didn’t get to talk to Walker?”
“No, but I’ll make sure it won’t matter. I did find another piece of the puzzle that the Albanians stole from him.”
“Yes, you will, if you’re going to make me take on the Albanians.”
“As I said, use your ingenuity. If you need help, call me.”
“You’d really get in my way.” Rennell hung up.
“Will he be able to do that?” Lara asked.
“I wouldn’t have called him if he couldn’t. He’s totally experienced and he’s very innovative. Sandrino used to tell me stories about him.” He grimaced. “And I was involved in a few of them myself when I first came to live with Sandrino.” He glanced at her. “Don’t worry, neither the police nor the Albanians will be after us.”
“And what about Volkov?”
“Why should I promise you that? You’ve been telling me that I can’t keep you away from him.” He added grimly, “And you demonstrated it today, didn’t you?”
“Do you think he’s here in Vegas yet?”
“If he is, he hasn’t brought his entire crew or he wouldn’t have gone to the Albanians for outside help.” He paused. “But I think he’ll be here soon. So we’d better see what we can do to get ready for him. As soon as we get back to the safe house, we’d better start going over those scribbles Walker sent us and see if we can make anything of them.”
“I suppose I should have seen if there was anything else in his bedroom when I ran back that second time.”
“This last note I took from the Albanians was probably the only thing of any value. I can’t see Walker leaving anything valuable lying around when he had the entire casino area memorized. But I’ll call Rennell again and tell him to take a look when he’s there.” He looked at her. “I didn’t ask you why you went back.”
“Because you were pissed off that I wasn’t doing what you wanted. I forgot something.” She slipped her hand in her jacket pocket. “This.” She pulled the object out of her pocket and handed it to him. “I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to find it, but he’d dropped it on the floor.”
“The dog tags.” Tanner looked down at the metal in his palm. “You went back for this?”
“You told him you wanted them. They belong to you. There are probably memories. You should have them.” She moistened her lips. “There’s no blood on them. Walker must have wiped them clean.”
“Yeah.” He seemed to be having trouble looking away from the dog tags. “Only memories…” His gaze lifted to her face. His eyes were glittering, though his lips were taut. “I think you’ve done it now,” he said hoarsely. “I was doing pretty well. I was holding on, but you’ve blown it.”
She shook her head. “I did the right thing. They belong to you.”
“And I told you I could be very possessive about things that belong to me. That’s why I’m careful about that obsessive streak I mentioned. I never give up.”
She frowned. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying more than I should.” He suddenly smiled recklessly. “I’m telling you all bets are off, and you take care of yourself because I’m done with it. From now on you’re on your own.”
“I always have been.”
“And a remark like that would have immediately sent me reeling but not now. I won’t let it.” He looked away from her. “We’ll do what we both came here for, and we’ll come out of it on top. You’ll get what you want. I’ll definitely get what I want because I make a habit of winning.” She was driving through the gates. He looked over at her, smiling again. “But I’ll make sure you win, too, Lara. You won’t be sorry.”
“I’m not exactly sure what you’re talking about, and I don’t know if I like it.” She parked in front of the house and looked down at the dog tags in his palm. “And all of this was because I ran back and got your damn dog tags?”
“Small actions can trigger earthquakes.” His smile had deepened. “I felt the need to give you fair warning.” He opened his passenger door. “I feel more relieved than I have since you first woke up on the Gulfstream. Now let’s go inside and check out the last note I took from that Albanian and see if it’s going to help us.”
* * *
“You’ve got the midnight oil burning bright,” Rennell said as he walked into the library that night. “And all to welcome me back from the wars?”
“Among other things,” Tanner said dryly. “And was it a war?”
“I exaggerated a bit. It was more a piece of cake after I got them out of the apartment. But they’re all safely ensconced in a neighborhood not too far from the Strip in appropriate murderous positions that would put their Albanian bosses in a rage against his inept goons. I’ll place a call to the police in an hour or so and let them know that a gang war has obviously erupted in their completely sin-free city.”
“Sounds like an excellent job. I’ll give Kaskov a call and tell him to use his influence to smooth out any problems with the Albanians.”
“Couldn’t hurt.” He paused. “So what have you been doing while I’ve been busy saving your asses? Did that note you snagged at Walker’s pay any dividends?”
“It might have.” He handed him the note. “It’s much better crafted than the others; it was probably done last night after I’d agreed to protect Walker. It’s the Volkov mountain sketch, this time in detail. It even indicates a waterfall. He must have been feeling generous because he’d told me that he’d found those old dog tags I gave Sandrino in the brush near there. He probably knew I was going to ask him to take me there.”
Rennell was studying the sketch. “Interior and exterior. He did do a good job. Anything else?”
Tanner shook his head. “We’ve just been going over the other sketches again. Maria’s been comparing the lines and features in the sketches to the possible actual natural geographic features in the areas she found doing research in her computer. She was able to line up quite a few possibilities.”
“Sharp lady.”
“We’re all in agreement there,” Tanner said. “But we’ll still have to do on-the-ground visuals to find out how accurate she was.” He picked up the map sheet. “We can go only so far with this one before we run into areas where Walker indicated practically no features. After I leave the road, it looks like I’ll be on my own.”
“What about the casino?”
“When I get there, it will be pretty much the same. No friendly warnings of booby traps on the horizon.”
“Any word of Volkov showing up yet?”
“Mallory has one of his men monitoring the Gulfstream at the airport to see who comes knocking on their door. He said there was a report of someone asking questions at the rental car desk shortly after we landed. I’ll bet that they’re here in full force now and know we are, too. Which means we’ve got to get moving so they don’t zero in on us.” He tilted his head. “Or maybe make an advance move to stir the pot a little while we’re doing it. That may be a way to take the initiative. I don’t like the idea of the sitting around meekly waiting for an attack.”
“When did you ever do that?” Rennell asked dryly. “You were always raising hell if you couldn’t find any other way to get one of your games started. Sandrino used to laugh about it.”
“But I have to be more careful this time. Maybe just a few phone calls to my casinos in the east will light the bottle rocket. You complained I wasn’t moving fast enough; that should please you.”
“It will please me if you let me go after Volkov.” He added as he turned to go, “I can see you might be on the way now. Go ahead. Just don’t be too subtle.”
“I’ll try to obey your instructions,” Tanner said sarcastically as he reached for his phone. “Heaven forbid I don’t let Volkov know exactly what’s waiting for him.”
Chapter
14
What are you doing?” Lara asked Tanner as she came into the library thirty minutes later. He was on the floor, sitting cross-legged, leaning back against the couch.
“I’m just relaxing after a busy day and trying to follow Rennell’s advice to go for the bottle rocket and not be too subtle.” He reached up and pulled her down to sit beside him on the floor. “I placed a call and I’m waiting for a return.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I saw Rennell come down the driveway. Did everything go well?”
Tanner nodded. “He’d be insulted that you even asked. Are you and Maria finished for the night?”
“Until we can go out to the mountains and draw comparisons. It’s strange sitting here on the floor. I feel like a little kid.”
“That’s not bad. It’s back to basics. I spent a lot of time when I was a kid in back alleys shooting craps or playing cards. When I graduated to the bars, I thought I was big time.” He smiled. “I’ve always liked sitting on the floor. Sometimes I can think better. I can see how you might not be comfortable. You were probably sitting on a piano bench most of the time when you were a kid.”
She nodded. “When I wasn’t doing a Trial. But I’m getting used to this now. It’s just…strange.” She leaned back against the couch. “I can imagine you in those alleys. I bet you were really good at poker even then.”
