She raised the small antenna and pushed the device into the bush. She ran and repeated the process four more times, spacing the charges about fifty feet apart. She was about to place the sixth charge when she heard a snap behind her.

She froze.

Snap.

Twigs breaking. Brush rustling.

Someone was coming!

She rolled behind a tall boulder and crouched low.

The footsteps grew louder, and she could see a man with an assault rifle making his way toward her. She recognized him as one of Volkov’s bodyguards, a red-haired man the others called Pinky.

He was now less than six feet away. Another few steps and he’d be right on top of her. She glanced around. Nowhere to go without him seeing her, and in any case she couldn’t outrun the bullets from his gun.

Pinky stopped. As he looked around, Maria could see that his eyes were scanning across the patch of brush where she’d left the explosive charge. Shit. He was going to see it.

His walkie-talkie beeped, and he abruptly turned away. The radio blared something she couldn’t understand. He responded, “Copy. All clear down here.”

He turned and walked away.

Thank God.

She waited another few moments to let out the long breath she’d been holding. She slowly moved back around and finished setting the charge.

She looked into the knapsack. Four more to go.

She could do this.

* * *

Mountain Casino

“Don’t you tell me that I’ve lost everything!” Volkov’s voice was almost a screech. “It can’t be true.” He whirled on Kael. “You were supposed to protect me from things like this. What do I pay you for?”

“It was an expert hacking job,” Kael said frantically. “Absolutely faultless. You saw me call and check on the bigger accounts to verify that it had actually happened. The bank executives couldn’t believe it.”

“But you still can’t get my money back?”

He shook his head. “It just…disappeared. You know I’ll do my best.”

“Your best sucks,” Volkov snarled. “What good are you?”

“It’s not my fault.” Kael was backing toward the casino door. “No one could have stopped it. It was…faultless.”

“It was Tanner,” Volkov said. “He was sitting here and mocking me, and all the time he was stealing me blind. I could see it in his face. I’ll kill the son of a bitch.”

“Yes, it must have been him,” Kael said quickly. “It wasn’t me, sir.”

Anton threw open the casino door and ran into the room. “I checked the road and Tanner didn’t leave by the interstate. And I just saw headlights on the upper ridge road. He might be trying to head west for Arizona. He’s got to know he can’t get away with this.”

“Might? You’re as much an idiot as Kael. You and Maria and your bitch of a daughter. You’re all idiots and trying to get me. Call some of the men at the helicopter and find out where they are on the property.”