“They must have liked you, too,” Tanner said. “You weren’t mentioned in the investigation when the painting was stolen. Yet Nilssen must have suspected you.”

She shrugged. “I did him a favor once. I guess he was grateful.”

“Why?”

“I dove into the sea and pulled his youngest daughter out when she fell overboard.” She smiled. “Colette was always a wild child. We had to watch her all the time.”

“It was lucky you knew how to swim.”

“I didn’t, until Anton and Volkov sent me out in that speedboat to get those drugs from Dimitri.” She met his eyes. “But I learned from that mistake. I built on it. That’s what you have to do. Take what you’re given and make it work for you.”

“Or for Colette?”

She nodded. “I liked her. I used to play for her and Gina before they went to sleep at night.” She turned away. “It wasn’t a success, Tanner.”

“Then we might have to make it into a success. I’ll have to think about it.” The bedroom door had opened, and Maria was coming into the room. “I was wondering where she was. Did you have a falling-out?”

“No, we never have falling-outs. She’s always been everything to me. We sometimes have misunderstandings.” She added coldly, “And I don’t appreciate you inserting opinions to try to influence her.”

“As if she’d give a damn about my opinions. You know that as well as I do. She’s going to do whatever she thinks is best for you. You’re just annoyed because you’re going to have to come up with something else since you’re not getting your own way.” He started across the room toward Maria. “So let’s eat dinner and then we’ll go out for a walk and discuss our options. By the way, your mother is looking beautiful tonight.”

He was right, Lara thought. That was odd. Maria usually wore dark, understated clothes aimed to make her fade into the background, but tonight she was wearing a cream-colored sweater with her pale olive jeans, and the contrast was striking with her dark hair. “She’s always beautiful. Inside and out.” She smiled at Maria, and Maria smiled back. “No matter what happens, she never changes.” She added fiercely as she started to follow him, “And it’s going to stay that way. Do you hear me, Tanner?”

He nodded. “But she’s already changing. You can’t alter that. You might not want to once you get used to the idea.” He’d reached Maria and held out his hand. “Come and have a drink before dinner. I want you to get to know Mallory. You’ll find him pleasant enough. I’m going to whisk your daughter away for a while after dinner to talk, and I’d like you to keep each other company so she won’t want to run back right away. Is that okay?”

Maria’s gaze shifted to Lara. “I believe it might be very much okay,” she said slowly. “You’ll both have to see, won’t you?”