“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said lightly. “I’d much prefer gratitude to the fate you had in mind for me when you first opened your eyes.”

“I thought you were just another enemy,” she said. “I’m not used to having anyone do anything for me. It was…strange.”

“But then so is our entire encounter to date.” He smiled. “We’ll just have to become accustomed to it, since we’re going to have to be around each other.”

He was gone again.

She leaned back in the seat and tried to relax. It was either a lie or the truth. She was still leaning toward thinking he had lied to her. As she had told him, she couldn’t see why anyone would want to help her. She and Maria were alone in a world that had seldom shown them mercy. Why should Kaskov or this stranger bother themselves to interfere with her life?

So don’t want it too much. Don’t expect it to be true.

It was safer like that.

* * *

Tanner came back fifteen minutes later and handed her his phone. “She’s going to call you right away. She’s fine. She gave Nash an argument, but she finally went with them without having to be persuaded. I told them I’d prefer to have it that way.”

“You mean they didn’t have to knock her out?” she asked sarcastically.

He nodded. “She was much more reasonable than you. She didn’t go on the attack. I had to protect myself, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did. I was going to kill you if I could.”

“I thought that was where you were headed.”

“I still will if you’re lying and they hurt Maria.”

“I’m not lying.” He sat down across from her. “Why do you call your mother by her first name?”

“My father didn’t like it when she got pregnant. Then she compounded the sin by having a girl. I learned when I was very young that it was better for both of us not to remind him of that terrible mistake. I’ve always called my mother Maria and my father Anton.”

“What a son of a bitch,” he said softly.

“Yes, but we learned how to survive him.” She was gazing impatiently down at the phone. “When is she supposed to—” The phone rang and she pressed it to answer. “Maria? Are you all right?”

“A little bewildered and suspicious, but that’s all. I’ve been so worried about you for these past days. And then these men showed up and told me something about Kaskov and that you weren’t hurt and would stay that way as long as I went along with them. Are you okay?”

“Yes, I haven’t been hurt. Are they treating you well?”

“Insistent,” Maria said. “But very polite. What’s this all about? What does Kaskov have to do with it?”

“I have no idea about Kaskov. We hardly saw anything of him except those times he’d stop by and you’d have me play for him. He wouldn’t speak more than a few words to either of us and then he’d be gone again. I don’t know why he’d interfere like this. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself. Maybe it was just a random impulse. Anyway, I’ll take it.”