“I had to make sure it had sunk in. You were a city boy who thought you knew everything. Sandrino told me I should make sure that you realized there was more to learn before someone killed you. I always did what Sandrino said.” He was striding away. “You’re not dead yet, are you?”

Tanner turned back to Lara and Maria. “And now you’ve met Sam Rennell. I’m sure you’ll agree he’s one of a kind.” He was going up the steps and throwing open the front door. “You might as well go in and choose one of the suites and start settling in. It doesn’t matter which one. They’ll all be spotless and in fantastic shape. Rennell makes sure that the entire property is always as ready as if Sandrino is going to walk through that door in the next ten minutes.” He was reaching for his phone and dialing. “I’ll call Mallory and remind him that he has to smooth Rennell’s way with the men. It’s been a while since he’s been around Rennell, and he might have forgotten that when annoyed he takes no prisoners.”

“Wait,” Lara said. “Who is this Sandrino? Is that who owns this place? And why in the hell did you give Rennell the idea that I have something to do with him?”

“Because you do. And I’m aware that I have explanations to make, but I’m not in the mood right now. I’m feeling a bit raw at the moment. Maybe later.” He turned and walked away as Mallory answered.

“Maybe?” Lara repeated.

Maria nudged her arm. “You know you’ll get it out of him, you’re just impatient. It’s been a bad day for all of us.” She was gently pushing her into the house. “Distraction. I’ve never been told to make myself at home in a mansion before. So that’s what I’m going to do. Actually, I like the idea of being able to give you the chance of doing it, too. I’ve always hated not being able to give you anything better than that house on the compound. Then I’m going to have a shower, and after that I suggest we dive into that stew Rennell was talking about.” She was leading her toward the grand staircase. “But as usual you’ll do what you want to do. Which will be fine with me as long as it doesn’t involve tracking Tanner down and interrogating him when he’s this close to exploding.”

“He isn’t going to explode. He’ll just withdraw and go inside himself.” Lara shrugged. “Which would mean I won’t get what I wanted anyway. So I’ll leave him alone.”

“He’s right,” Maria said softly. “You are getting to know him. That might not be good.”