Tanner nodded. “The other is behind the tail section.”

RAT-AT-AT-AT!

Rennell’s back windshield shattered.

Tanner returned fire, then turned to the others. “Be ready. When he pops back up from behind that tail, let him have it.”

The gunman jumped up with his rifle, but before he could even squeeze off a single shot Tanner, Rennell, and the team hit him with over a dozen rounds of ammo. He flew backward to the canyon floor, dead.

Silence.

And then they heard another metallic scraping coming from the canyon.

“Maybe one more survivor,” Tanner said as he reloaded his gun.

“We made sure that Volkov was on that helicopter.” He started for the canyon. “Wouldn’t you know the bastard would live through it?”

“Not for long,” Rennell said as he moved after him. “I’ve been waiting for this…”

A bullet pinged the rock beside his head!

He fell to the ground and then wriggled to the nearest boulder.

“He’s behind that propeller,” Tanner said, moving quietly through the brush. “I’ll get him.”

“The hell you will. He’s mine.”

But Volkov was crawling on the ground, groaning with every breath. “Stupid. You can’t hurt me. I’m too smart for you.” His arm was bleeding badly, but he still managed to lift his automatic. “She was wrong. I won’t let that bitch be right.”

Tanner knocked the automatic aside. “She was right. You’re beaten, and soon you’ll be dead. Like Sandrino. You remember Sandrino, Volkov.”

“I remember him. He kept calling me a loser. I made him pay for it.” His smile was ugly. “You should have seen what I did to him. He kept talking about you. He said you’d never stop.”

“I never did. That’s why you’re lying there bleeding to death.” He turned to Rennell. “Leave him like this? Or do you have a better idea?”

Rennell raised his gun and aimed at Volkov’s belly. He pulled the trigger. Volkov screamed. “Sandrino,” Rennell said. He aimed at Volkov’s penis. “Sandrino.” He pulled the trigger. He aimed at Volkov’s chest. “Sandrino.” The bullet exploded his chest. Then Rennell looked down at him and shook his head. “I think that last Sandrino killed him. Pity. But I never could win an argument with Sandrino.”

He turned and walked away.

* * *

Maria stopped Tanner as he was coming out of the canyon. “How did you keep Lara from coming with you?”

“With great difficulty,” he said dryly. “But when I talked to Mallory on the phone a little before you showed up with Rennell, I realized the last thing I wanted was to have her there when you’d be in danger. I pulled one of Mallory’s men and told her to stay with him. She wasn’t pleased.”

“I’m not surprised. It could be the end between you.”

“No, it will only mean anger and adjustment. She knows me. She trusts me.”

“I’m not so sure.” She shrugged. “She’s going to be even less pleased with me. But I had to do it.” She gazed at the canyon. “Volkov is dead?”