“So you supplied me with a reason to go after him for you.”

“I just supplied you with a name and location. You’d been searching for Sandrino for a long time. Are you going to stop now?”

“Hell, no.”

“I didn’t think so. I’ll give you all the information I have. If you find it getting a little too hot for you, let me know and I’ll get you help.”

“He won’t need help,” Rennell said coldly. “Just let me know where to find this Volkov.”

“The general direction will be easy enough. Nikolai told me he left Moscow for New York shortly before we did. I rather imagine he was heading somewhere in Connecticut or this area to join Anton.” He added, “If you were helping Nikolai scout out the grounds this evening, you might have stumbled across him then. Nikolai had orders to keep an eye out for him.”

“You thought he could be here?”

“He had Tanner’s name.” He looked at Lara. “And she was going to be here. Though he might not have known that, it still increased the possibility.”

“You were going to use me as bait,” Lara said slowly. “That’s why you paid Tanner to extract me.”

“The idea did occur to me. But I decided to let Tanner make the call. Though it would have been the most practical thing to do.”

Her lips creased bitterly. “Much too good to be true.”

“I got you out,” Kaskov said quietly. “And the bait concept came as an afterthought. I didn’t find out that Volkov had set up a Trial that might kill you until that Friday night. I had to move fast.”

“Still, it was a brilliant idea.”

“That I’m not going to use,” Tanner said curtly. “I told you that if Kaskov set you up with a comfortable situation, I was out of your life.”

“Yes, you did.” She got to her feet. “But maybe you’d better make sure that Kaskov is going to follow through with his promise to us before you desert us. He’s very wily, and I’m not sure I can trust him. I’ll have to think about it.” She started toward the door. “I’m going to my room. I have a lot to think about. I’ll leave you to squeeze Kaskov for all that information you need from him.”

“I never allow myself to be squeezed,” Kaskov said. “It’s so undignified. But I might graciously allow myself to dispense whatever wisdom they need.” He tilted his head. “Good night, Lara. It’s been a difficult time for you. I am wily, but all the trickery concerning you is at an end. Now you’re the one who has to make the decisions.” He took another sip of his coffee. “Which isn’t going to be that difficult considering your options.”