“Really? I hardly think so. She has a particular dislike of being controlled.”

“And you have a passion for being in control,” Mallory said. “My, my. What a conundrum. What are we going to do?”

“I don’t have to do anything.” Tanner grinned. “I can leave it up to you. You read the file. Deal with her. Reassure her, so that she won’t choose the parachute option.” He jerked his thumb toward the door. “But take a pot of strong coffee with you and watch your back.”

“What a challenge.” Mallory got to his feet. “But I will persevere. I’m always better with people than you are. You’re far too impatient.”

“Are we back to those dealers again?”

“Why should I let you forget them? You caused me a full two hours of smoothing their egos and then coaxing them to stay.” He passed Tanner and opened the door. “If you need something to do while you’re sitting up here as I do your job, her file is in my bag beside the chair.”

“So?”

“Just thought I’d tell you. You’re fighting it, but you’re curious as hell. You’re always like that when you have a hand you don’t quite know how to play. Shall I give you a teaser?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “The bastards called them the Trials. They’d get together and choose a task to give Lara to accomplish in a certain amount of time, usually six months or less. Usually something dangerous, almost always illegal. Nothing easy, nothing familiar. Then Volkov would bet a certain amount against her, and her father would choose if he wanted to accept it. He always did. Then her father would give her as much tutoring as he thought she’d need and then she’d have to do the Trial. She did the first one when she came back from Moscow after the competition. I think she was about eleven. She lost that Trial and ended up in the hospital with a broken leg and a concussion. Is that intriguing enough for you?”

He left the cockpit before Tanner could answer.

Crafty bastard, Tanner thought. He knew damn well he’d be intrigued and pissed off at that “teaser.” Yet the last thing he wanted was to feel pity or protectiveness toward Lara Balkon. Mallory was right, he did know how to handle people better than Tanner—except when he applied himself. He’d always been tough when necessary, but he genuinely liked most people and was interested in what made them tick. It had taken Tanner a long time before he’d learned to accept Mallory’s intrusion into his own privacy. He might never have done it if they hadn’t been in the service together. He was too guarded to let anyone that close.

But Mallory was right about Tanner’s curiosity. It sometimes overcame his instinct to keep the world at a distance. He was definitely curious about Lara Balkon. Probably natural enough considering how they’d come together. He’d been feeling a wild mixture of feelings toward her since she’d turned and attacked him in the forest: wariness, respect, impatience, and, yes, even attraction. She was beautiful and fiery and so complex he couldn’t deny he’d had to smother moments of intense arousal.