“I will?” She was gazing at her in bewilderment. “What do you mean? I’ve told you what I want to do. Once we find a way of losing Tanner, he won’t matter to us.”

“Except I haven’t made it clear enough to you that I have no intention of going along with your plan,” she said gently. “We’re going to stay together until we find some way to make that permanent. You’re not hiding me away; you’re not ever putting yourself into a position where you’ll have to face Volkov again. Do you understand?”

“No,” she said sharply. “There’s only one way, Maria. Can’t you see that?”

“No, I can’t.” She gave her daughter a cool glance. “Because I have no crystal ball that’s telling me we can’t have it all. So you’d better turn yours in for a newer model and figure out how I can have my way.”

“Did Tanner have anything to do with this?” Lara asked through set teeth. “I’d bet he did. I told you he was persuasive.”

“No, I told him that you were in charge, and you are. You’re the one whose life is on the line.” She smiled. “Except for this one small item that I won’t back down on.”

“Maria…” She wanted to shake her. “You’re wrong.”

“I’m right. I’ve never been more right.” She was suddenly smiling. “I’ll go along with anything you want to do. Pretend it’s that concerto you play when you want to get ready for a difficult Trial. Just concentrate and come up with something that you can live with. Literally.” She opened the bathroom door. “Now get dressed. I’ll only be a few minutes.”

Lara’s hands clenched as she saw the door close behind Maria. Damn. Damn. Damn. She knew that tone; she had no chance of budging her mother. Not unless she could persuade her that there was nothing else she could do to save them. And it might come to that, she thought in despair. This moment of hope could disappear in a heartbeat if she didn’t reach out and grab it before it slipped away. She hadn’t let Maria know how close Volkov had come during the last two Trials to taking her down. She’d been aware of an increase in his levels of recklessness and viciousness, but what would have been the use of worrying Maria? Still, this weird escape that Kaskov had brought about would have sent Volkov into a fury. He would never stop, and there was every chance he would try to hurt her by using Maria.

That must not happen. Okay, she’d do what Maria suggested. Concentrate. Try to get what she wanted without resorting to what she knew was the most efficient way of handling it. How?

Tanner. She was sure he’d had something to do with Maria’s sudden determination. And she hadn’t seemed to want to talk about him when she’d first come back. If he’d had something to do with Maria’s decision, he might also be able to reverse it. Even if he hadn’t made an overt attempt at persuasion, Lara had been exposed to that deep, subtle probing during the flight here. He’d always been one step ahead…