“Too late. You’ve already shown me that minuscule amount of softening. I won’t tell anyone.” She smiled shakily. “But it was a waste because I deliberately killed that man and we both know it. In fact, I caught a glimpse of his face before I pulled the trigger.” She moistened her lips. “And now I’m going to go over and make sure he’s dead.” She moved over to the truck. “Though I aimed for his throat, and he was pinned under the truck so I’m almost sure.”

“I’m very sure,” he said harshly. “You don’t have to look at the bastard.”

“Yes, I do.” She was kneeling beside the truck and shining her flashlight on his crushed head. “Yes, quite dead.” She got to her feet. “Thank God!”

“Maria?” His gaze was narrowed on her face. “What’s going on?”

“I told you, I saw his face.” Her lips were curved in a bitter smile. “And I knew his name. It was Anton Balkon, my dear departed husband. You might have heard a few stories about him. They were all true. So I won’t pretend to be sorry about the bastard. He was probably on his way to torment Lara. He and Volkov had a habit of—” She stopped. “I didn’t think—what happened here might change things. Why are we standing here? Shouldn’t we go and help Lara and Tanner finish this?”

“Yes, I was just waiting for you to stop talking so that we could get on the road. We should probably head for Mallory and his guys and see if those charges are really going to work.” He gazed at her, deadpan. “If you’re truly finished mourning…”

“Bastard.” She headed for Rennell’s car. “I’m definitely finished mourning.”

*  *  *

Lara held tight to the seat belt as Tanner gunned the Mercedes over the rough, rocky terrain of the ridge road. “I’m glad I didn’t volunteer to drive,” she shouted over the rattling noise of the metal. “Mercedes are supposed to be very sturdy, but this doesn’t feel like it.”

“It’s a good car. I’m punishing it,” Tanner said. “I want to get to the pass where we’ll be able to see the copter. If Volkov took the bait, then the timing should be just about right in another three minutes. He’ll be arriving at the pass about the same time as we do.” He grinned. “Of course, he’ll be driving up to the copter pad, which will be about a hundred feet below where we are on this ridge road. And the point will be to encourage Volkov to come up and join us, preferably in that helicopter.”