“I always like it when a good plan starts coming together. Sometimes seeing that happen is worth a little trouble.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Call Egor, Nikolai. I want to be in New York by tomorrow.”

*  *  *

Sandrino Place
9:40 P.M.

“What is that I smell?” Lara asked as she came into the kitchen after Maria had made her close down the music room for the night. “Spicy…”

“I have no idea,” Maria said as she stirred the bubbling cheese dish. “Some recipe from India that Rennell had in his freezer that I couldn’t pronounce if I wanted to. He handed it to me and told me not to add anything to it on pain of death.” She grimaced. “I think he was being sarcastic, but I wasn’t sure at the time. That deadpan expression…I thought it better not to risk it. Rennell has an odd sense of humor.”

Lara sat down at the bar. “And how did you come to that conclusion? I gather you followed up on your plan to find out if Rennell was going to be a problem?”

“It was necessary. He was a threat to you, and I didn’t know if Tanner could control him.” She tasted the mixture. “Heavenly.” She put the spoon aside. “I found out that he probably could, because they have a common love for Sandrino. Otherwise, it might be a battle. Though I don’t believe it would come down to sacrificing either one of us on the top of a temple. Rennell has a basic code that he tries to ignore if it gets in his way. But I don’t think he’s able to do it very often. That’s why he gets so frustrated with Tanner. Tanner almost never uses violence to get his way, because he can usually do it with a deck of cards.”

“I didn’t find that true in the Avgar Forest,” Lara said ruefully. “Violence was definitely on the agenda.”

“Well, he wasn’t going to invite you to sit down for a game of poker,” Maria said. “But think about it. He used minimum violence that night.”

“And Rennell told you that while you were with him today?”

“Not exactly. He just dropped puzzle pieces and I put them together. But I don’t think Rennell is going to give us any trouble as long as we don’t get in his way with Sandrino.”

“Puzzle pieces,” Lara repeated. “Did he even know what you were doing?”

“Yes. Not at first, but he got there soon enough. That’s when he turned brusque and threw this dish at me before kicking me and Mallory out of his house.” She grinned. “But not before we got to know each other much better than he expected.” She turned and was getting two plates out of the cabinet. “Get silverware and we’ll have dinner. You must be starved. You’ve been in the music room since this morning.”