She nodded. “And ready to hang you from the nearest light post. He doesn’t like to be frustrated, and he doesn’t appreciate anyone controlling a conversation but him. Why did you hang up on him?”

“I wanted to let him stew for a little while. We’ve made our first contact, and he knows things aren’t going to go well for him unless he strikes a deal that will please me.” He grinned. “Or if he can find a way to cut my throat. I’ve also given him a more-than-broad hint that I know about Sandrino, and that might be on the negotiating table. Then I gave him time to digest all of that for the next few days before he calls me back. By that time he should be red-hot and ready to be guided in the way we want him to go.”

“Hopefully. He’s not patient. He’s not going to wait around before he contacts you again.”

“No, and that will make him even angrier when I don’t pick up. In the meantime, he and Anton will be tearing around Vegas trying to string me from that lamppost. That might give us at least one day to check out the beautiful Muddy Mountains.”

“Where in the mountains? We’re probably not going to be able to cover both the casino and Volkov’s place in one day. It looked as if they might even be different mountain areas like Maria said.”

His smile faded. “I thought we’d head toward Volkov’s mountain. We have the best map leading there since the Albanians stole it from Walker’s body. I believe the highway map would eventually lead us to the casino anyway. It makes sense. But if Volkov has any men staked out, it would probably be in that casino area. We’d do better to avoid it right now.”

“And besides, you want to see the place where Walker found those dog tags,” she said quietly.

He nodded. “I want to see what else is there. But it doesn’t change the fact that it’s safer than the casino.”

“Unless Volkov decided to go there direct from the airport.” She shook her head. “Which isn’t likely. He wanted to contact you too badly, and you’re an unknown element. He’d assume you’d be here in Las Vegas.”

“That’s what I think. But there’s always risk involved whichever we choose.” He added with sudden roughness, “You know I don’t want you to come with me. Let me take Rennell.”

She shook her head. “I’m going with you. I want Rennell to stay here with Maria. Since you’ve made yourself Volkov’s favorite target, he’ll probably be tearing Las Vegas apart trying to find you. Rennell seems to know what he’s doing, and I can trust him.”

“Yes, you can, though he’s not enthusiastic about you doing it.”

“I think he’s getting used to it. So it’s settled? Is there anything else that I should know?”

“I can’t think of anything, since you’ve pretty much changed everything to suit yourself.” He tilted his head mockingly. “I can only hope that everything else I’ve done meets with your approval.”