High stakes, p.28
High Stakes, page 28
She ran back to the house and locked it; a few minutes later she was running back out. Tanner was already striding down the path toward the Mercedes. She caught up with him at the car. She didn’t even ask, just climbed into the driver’s seat and started to back out as soon as he got into the passenger seat.
She didn’t speak until she’d driven over fifteen minutes away from the house. “Are you going to tell me what happened?” she asked quietly.
“There’s a cave at the bottom of the waterfall that you can’t see unless you’re right on top of it,” he said curtly. “Volkov has made a room of it. He has several skeletons mounted there like trophies.” He cleared his throat. “And Sandrino’s is the prime trophy.”
“Oh, dear God,” she murmured. She reached out and touched his hand. “You’re sure?”
“I hoped to God I wasn’t. I didn’t want it to be him. I stayed there a long time to be certain. He was mostly skeleton, too, but I could recognize him. His right jaw had been smashed by a racketeer in a poker game when he was a young kid on his way up. He had to have surgery to repair it, and he had two damaged molars that also had to be replaced. He used to joke about it. He told me he might not have picked me up out of that alley if his jaw hadn’t been aching a little that night. It reminded him of what a rough life a kid could have on the streets.” He had to stop for a moment. “Yeah, that was Sandrino.” He looked away from her. “Volkov didn’t get to torture him. Sandrino must have fought. He died of a gunshot wound to the chest.”
She was aching with sympathy. “I’m so sorry, Tanner. What can I do?”
“You’ve already started. You locked up the house again for me.” He leaned wearily back in the seat. “That’s our first step. I’ll concentrate on the rest when I’m in a little better shape. I’m having a problem thinking right now. I’ll be much clearer by the time I get back to the house.”
“I’m sure you will.” Her hand tightened even more on Tanner’s. He’d just lost his best friend in one of the most horrible ways possible. Yet she believed him when he said that he’d be himself and ready to function in only that short time.
So hold his hand and let him know that she felt his pain. It was all she could do right now.
* * *
It was after nine when Lara pulled up before the front entrance that night. She didn’t have a chance to get out of the Mercedes before Tanner had slipped out of the passenger seat and opened the front door. She ran after him as he crossed the foyer and started up the staircase. “Tanner, tell me how I can help.”
“I don’t need help.” He tried to smile, but the effort was forced. “I only need a little time. It’s not as if I didn’t know he was dead. I would have heard from him otherwise. He never let me go very long without touching base. Volkov just found a particularly savage way of killing him that tore me apart. He didn’t deserve that.” He shook his head at her. “Stop looking at me like that. I’ll be fine. There’s nothing you can do at the moment. Unless you want to scrub my back. I’ve got to go up and shower and change. You might have noticed I was a little wet.”
“I noticed. Can I get you anything? You didn’t eat.” She had a sudden thought. “Am I bothering you?”
He shook his head. “No. You’re company, and I’ve felt lonely ever since I saw him. But I don’t like the idea of you in agony like this. I told you that I wanted you to stay okay.”
“But I can’t do that unless you are. What are you going to do after your shower?”
“I’m going to go down to the library and have a couple of drinks. Then I’m going to sit and plan how I’m going to kill Volkov in the most painful and humiliating way possible.”
“That sounds productive. Are you going to talk to Rennell?”
“Not tonight, maybe tomorrow.”
“Would you like me to talk to him for you?”
“Lord, no! He’d have you driving him out there to see for himself. And any plans I made would be literally shot to hell.” He shook his head again. “You aren’t going to let this go, are you? Why don’t you curl up on the couch in the library? I can meet you there in half an hour, and you can watch me either get stinking drunk or come up with a master plan.” He started back up the stairs. “Or go to bed, which would work better for you.”
“I’ll see you in half an hour, Tanner. And I promise I won’t be annoying.”
He looked back over his shoulder, and that rare smile lit his face. “I know you won’t.”
* * *
When he came into the library later, she’d already lit the fireplace and was curled up on the couch, waiting.
He stopped inside the door. “You’re a glutton for punishment.”
“No, I’m not. Or I’d have gone to bed and lain there worrying about you. I’m much better off sitting quietly and listening to you if you want to talk. You did say I was company.”
“In my usual complimentary fashion.” He headed for the bar. “You’re a hell of a lot more than that.” He poured himself a drink. “I’d offer you a drink, but you’d probably take it just to be accommodating.”
“Maybe. But I did make a pot of coffee, too.” She held up her cup. “I wasn’t sure what you’d need.”
“But you wanted to supply it.”
“You’re hurting. I know how that feels. But I’ve always had Maria.” She paused. “I think Sandrino was your Maria.”
“So now you want to mother me?”
She shook her head. “I just don’t want you to hurt anymore. That hurt me, too.” She added with a sad smile, “And that was not okay.”
“No, it wasn’t.” He poured himself another whiskey. “I don’t think I could take that at the moment.” He sat down in the desk chair. “So I’ll take one more drink and move on to phase two.”
“Volkov,” she said. “You were halfway there anyway, weren’t you?”
He nodded. “But I wasn’t entirely sure how deep a score I’d owe him. I knew he’d have to pay for what he’d done to you. I didn’t have proof about Sandrino.” He finished off his drink. “And I didn’t know about all those innocent people that he’d tortured and killed.”
“I didn’t, either. I knew that he enjoyed causing pain, but I didn’t know he’d made it a hobby.” She shivered. “Maybe I should have guessed.”
“It’s hard to guess what a monster will do. But I think we’ve got the full scorecard now. I’ve just got to decide how to return in kind.” He stared thoughtfully into the fire. “And you’ve given me hints about how to do that by telling me all about him. Narcissism: Show him and everyone in his circle that he’s nothing. Pride and egotism: Beat him at his own games. Greed: Take away all his wealth. Revenge: There’s almost too much to avenge, but we’ll manage. Pain: That will be no trouble at all.” He gazed at her across the room. “Have I left out anything?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“Well, no one should know better than you.”
“One more thing.” She paused. “You don’t leave me out of it. You have a habit of doing that.” She smiled shakily. “From now on that would not be okay. Maria and I have gone through too much. We’re the ones who have the most to lose if Volkov manages to somehow come out of this intact. So place me prominently right in the center and let me do my part.” She sat up straight. “Now tell me how we’re going to take the son of a bitch down.”
* * *
9:05 A.M., Next Day
“No!” Maria said sharply. “Hell, no. I was wondering why you didn’t wake me when you came in last night. I just assumed you hadn’t found anything up there in the mountains.”
“Oh, we found something,” Lara said bitterly. “Though Tanner took the brunt of it. I’m not going to let him keep on doing that. I have to do my part.”
“You said Rennell was joking when he was talking about holding you hostage.”
“I said I thought he was. And it’s not going to be like that. I just have to do my part.”
“You said that. I don’t want to hear it again. It scares me.”
“Do you know what scares me? What Volkov did to those victims at his house in the mountains. What he did to Sandrino. What he’ll try to do to us if we don’t stop him.” She took Maria’s arms and shook her. “It’s gone on too long, and he’s getting worse and worse. Think of those innocent people. Think of all the agony Tanner went through when he found Sandrino.”
“Why should I think of Tanner? You’re thinking entirely too much about him. I’m thinking about you. He shouldn’t let you do it.”
“That’s what he said until I told him he had to put me front and center. He can’t stop me.” She added quietly, “And neither can you, Maria. But you can keep me safer if you do your best to keep yourself safe, and don’t do anything that will cause Volkov to zero in on any weakness I might have. As he has since I was eleven. I can’t let that happen. This has to be the last Trial.”
“Your Achilles’ heel.” Maria gazed at her helplessly for an instant and then suddenly enveloped her in her arms and held her tightly. “But I’m still going to talk to Tanner,” she said gruffly.
“He said you would. He’ll be expecting it.”
Maria pushed her away. “What about Rennell? Has anyone told him about Sandrino?”
“Tanner is probably doing it now. I offered, but Tanner said that wouldn’t—”
“Of course it wouldn’t. He was right about that at least. Tanner can handle the explosion.” She added, “And maybe the emotional fallout.” She paused. “When is all this supposed to start? How much time do I have to talk you out of it?”
“Probably tonight. Tanner said he thought Volkov would have had enough time to stew and would be calling him back. He’ll be working all day to get ready for him. He sent Mallory out early this morning to track down the location of Volkov’s forces in the area. And I know he called Kaskov for additional help last night.”
“Shit!”
“Don’t look at it like that,” Lara said coaxingly. “It’s the beginning of the end. And it’s a new life for us, Maria.”
“I’ll do my best.” She added brusquely, “And isn’t it time for you to go practice? You were gone all yesterday.”
“What a nag. I’m going down now. I just wanted to duck in here and talk to you first.” She gave her a final hug and headed for the door. “Actually, I can’t wait, Maria. After yesterday I desperately need the music.”
Maria took a deep breath, her upper teeth biting down hard on her lower lip as the door closed behind Lara.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!”
* * *
Rennell’s hands clenched into fists as he turned away from Tanner. “The bastard did that to him?” he asked hoarsely. “You should have called me right away. We can’t let him live. Not even one more day. Not one more hour.”
“Yes, we can. Do you think I don’t know how you feel?” Tanner asked savagely. “I’m the one who found him. I saw him. It nearly killed me.”
Rennell whirled back to him, his eyes blazing. “Then why isn’t Volkov dead? You wouldn’t let me do it before. But nothing should have held you back after that. I thought you cared something about him. He loved you from the day he dragged you up to Sandrino Place. Anyone could see it.”
“You idiot, he loved both of us. God knows why.” He clutched Rennell’s shoulders and shook him. “The three of us were the most mismatched sons of bitches on the face of the earth, but somehow he managed to meld us together and make a family of us. I’ll be damned if I let Volkov kill you, too.”
“Take your hands off me before I break your neck.”
“Then listen to me.” His grip loosened and then fell away. “We’ll go after Volkov. It’s already in the works. But Volkov brought a crew with him, and they’re probably as lethal as you were when you were with the Gardella crime family.”
“I doubt it.”
“Arrogant prick. Anyway, there’s quite a few of them, they know what they’re doing, and they’ll have decent weapons. Anton Balkon will see to that. He’s running this show for Volkov. I don’t want there to be even a chance that Volkov isn’t a dead man when this is over. Not only dead, but in the most painful way possible.” He added grimly, “And I don’t want to leave any of his men alive to tell the story or cause any future problems for Lara and Maria. Understand?”
“I understand you may be giving me what I want. Tell me how.”
“I’m going to lure Volkov into a poker game. It will take place in the mountains at that casino where Walker sent us that note. Volkov will almost certainly try to set up a trap, which I’ll counter. But as soon as Volkov gets angry enough, he’ll send in the big guns. At that point, we’ll have to turn the trap against him. You’ll have to take them out, either before or after that happens.”
“And he’ll get angry enough? Why?”
“It’s a poker game, Rennell. The reason he killed Sandrino was that he hated to lose.” He added bitterly, “And I guarantee to add considerable salt to the wound this time.”
“But you’re going to let me take him out.”
“No promises. You’ll have an opportunity.” He added grimly, “But I might get there first.”
“An opportunity is usually all I need. Who’s checking out the site?”
“Mallory. He’ll have a report today.”
“He’s good. But I might want to do an additional follow-up myself.”
“Go ahead. But don’t make the follow-up a sniper bullet into Volkov.”
“I won’t. You promised me extreme pain for him if I waited.” He added coldly, “For that, I can be patient.”
* * *
Volkov didn’t call Tanner until nearly eleven that night.
Lara tensed and then sat up straight on the couch. She looked across the room at Tanner. He nodded, waited for another ring, and then answered. “Hello, Volkov. Have you had a good day?”
“What are you trying to pull, Tanner?” Volkov broke out explosively. “Why didn’t you answer my call last night? You can’t play games with me. I made you an offer.”
“So you did. But I told you that it wasn’t going to be that easy. We have to deal with my loss before I consider your offer. I’ve been thinking for a long time about what I’ll need to make me happy.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Volkov said warily.
“Sandrino. You might have heard we had sort of a…relationship. Though it was definitely up and down, and we were both competitive as hell. No matter how I tried, I could never beat him. I was even a little relieved when he disappeared, and everyone knew that I was the best in the world.”
“I heard you were good,” Volkov said sarcastically. “No one told me you were the best. A little bloated ego, Tanner?”
“If you didn’t hear it, it must be because we travel in different circles. These days players beg me for a game, just as they once did Sandrino.” He paused. “Did you beg him to let you join that poker game when you were in Ukraine? Maybe you should have sat that one out. I heard it didn’t go well for you.”
Silence. “You know about Ukraine?”
“Of course. It was my duty to look for Sandrino when he suddenly disappeared. Everyone knew that he’d set himself up as my mentor. I had to at least pretend to show him homage. It surprised me a little that he even bothered with that unimportant game in Ukraine. But when I heard he left there for brighter horizons, I just dropped the search and went back to running my own life and building my portfolio. I thought he was through with you, too.” He paused. “Until I got a text a couple of years later from an old friend of yours, Lenny Walker, asking for money and telling me if I’d come to Las Vegas he’d tell me how you’d lured Sandrino here for a big game. I ignored it. I was having financial problems with a few of my own casinos at the time, and I wasn’t about to pour cash anywhere but into my own bank accounts. Besides, by that time I was very comfortable not having to share space at the top with Sandrino.”
“I never heard of any Lenny Walker,” Volkov said flatly.
“I believe you did. Walker seemed positive. But I never heard from him again and I forgot about him because my stocks were plummeting. It was at that point that I took another look at you, Volkov. A thorough look that involved your very fat bank account in the Caymans—and Lara Balkon, who appeared to be a possible weapon.”
Volkov was swearing. “How did you know about the account in the Caymans?”
“I’m very good with numbers. Ask anyone. And I hire very sharp people to follow up when I’m interested.”
“Prying into my finances could get you killed,” Volkov said coldly.
“But then I’m sure that my taking your Lara has already sent me into dangerous territory. I figured that I might as well go double or nothing.”
“Double or nothing? What the hell are you talking about?”
“I need to recoup my finances. I’ve heard you considered yourself expert enough to go up against Sandrino in Ukraine. Perhaps even here in Las Vegas. Are you willing to take me on?”
“Why should I?” he asked incredulously.
“Because you’re pissed off that I took your toy.” He paused. “And because when I say I need to recoup, it doesn’t mean I’m broke. I’m just stretched a little thin. I’ve been worse off. I can match the amount you have in that Cayman account. Which is how many million? I’ll transfer it to the same account, and the big winner takes the pot. We’ll set it up with the bank president.”
“The deal includes Lara Balkon?”
“That’s the double in double or nothing.” He added, “Private game. You find the casino and set it up. But I’ll have my people check to make certain you don’t have any of your goons hovering anywhere close.”
Volkov was silent. “You’re taking it for granted that I’ll take you up on it.”
“I’m taking for granted that you’re as arrogant and egotistical as I’ve heard and will think you can beat me.” He added, “And that you’re greedy enough to want to line your pockets with my money to punish me for having the nerve to take Lara.”
“I can beat you,” Volkov said harshly. “You’re nothing. You’re just like Sandrino, a crook and a cheat. I had no trouble beating him once I made him stop cheating.”
