“I won’t be twiddling my thumbs, I’ll be busy,” Anton said quickly. “I told you that I’d found out who helped them get to Stockholm. It was Logan Tanner, who does an occasional extraction if the money is right. That was all I could find out from the informant in Stockholm, and I didn’t want to waste time when I was afraid we might miss them. I’ll find out more about Tanner, and we’ll track Lara through him.”

Silence. “Tanner?” Volkov asked. “You’re sure the name was Tanner?”

“I’m sure. Why? Do you recognize it?”

“I think I’ve heard of him.”

“That’s all I know so far, but now that I have the name, I’ll know more about him soon.”

“You’ll find out everything about him,” Volkov said harshly. “It’s your fault that you didn’t even realize they were making contact with someone who could just whisk them out of Russia. Where the hell did they get the money for an extractor?”

“We’ll find out. I’ll find out everything, just like you said.” He paused. “But you might have to be patient. The last time we tracked them down very quickly, but it was because they were totally on their own and they didn’t even make it out of Russia before we caught up with them. This is another country, and we don’t know what resources this Tanner has.”

“Are you saying that she might actually be able to get away?” Volkov asked with soft venom. “Don’t even think about it. That’s not going to happen. Word has already gotten around to my other men about Gregor and Razov. They all knew about that Trial, and I won’t be made the fool if everyone finds out that Lara took both of them down and then just flitted away.”

“I didn’t think you would. I just wanted to warn you there would be problems.” Anton hesitated. “If I don’t have help.”

Volkov was cursing again. “You’ll have help. Get me all the information you can gather and set up a camp. I have business here in Avgar, but I should be ready to leave within a few days. If you manage to get her before then, let me know. No excuses, Anton.”

“After all we’ve been through together? We’ll get through this patch, too.” He added eagerly, “And I’ll make it up to you, Volkov. Whatever you want.”

“Exactly,” Volkov said harshly. “I’ll see that you do. Whatever I want. I’ll carve it in your flesh.”

*  *  *

Tanner had one more whiskey before he reached for his phone and called Kaskov. This time he was put immediately through to Nikolai. “Get me Kaskov,” he bit out. “Now, Nikolai. I don’t care what he’s doing.”