“Sandrino,” Kaskov said. “You asked for a name. The name is Volkov.”

“Volkov killed him?” Tanner said hoarsely. “You’re sure?”

“What!” Rennell was suddenly across the room next to Tanner. “Is it true?”

“Back off. I’m trying to find out.” His gaze was on Kaskov. “How do you know?”

“I told you, I know everything about him. For instance, he has a passion for gambling. Everyone in Russia knows that, and he’s very good at it. Almost as good as your friend Sandrino. Anton was a small fry compared with Volkov; he often trailed behind him but never made the big games. I found out that Volkov was in a game with Sandrino the week he was in Ukraine and Sandrino beat him.” He shrugged. “Evidently a very humiliating defeat. Volkov tried to get him to play him again but he refused. The stakes weren’t big enough. So a few months later Volkov managed to set up a big game in Las Vegas with some very high stakes and invited Sandrino. He took the bait. The game was played the night he arrived in Las Vegas. Sandrino beat Volkov again. There was something of an uproar and he walked out of the game. Sandrino was due to leave that same night, but he disappeared.”

“Where in Las Vegas?” Tanner’s hands were knotted into fists. “I should have heard about it if there was a big game.”

“Maybe Volkov kept the game quiet on purpose. He was very angry with Sandrino. Maybe he had something on his mind besides poker.”

“Maybe. What else? No one knows Volkov killed him? He got away with it?”

“As far as I know. I’ve no real proof that he was killed. Only the supposition. I’ve sent a man to Las Vegas to ask questions and I did get some answers. I have a few reports about where the game happened, and where Sandrino might be found whether he’s dead or alive. But yes, almost certainly Volkov had something to do with his disappearance.”

“You set me up,” he said roughly. “You came to me and conned me into taking Lara when you knew it would send him after me. You wanted me to kill him.”

“Yes, but I also made a deal with you to give you what you wanted in return. I just delivered him to you. You were smart enough to figure the odds.”

“I’m not complaining. But I’m curious. I can’t see why you’d be shy about going after Volkov yourself.”

“Ordinarily, I’m not. But all Russia is a tinderbox right now. And I seem to be the prime target. Besides, I didn’t want all the families to be warring among ourselves. It’s bad for business. If I’d made the first move, that’s what it would have come down to. It would be much cleaner to let an outsider do it.”