Deadly Exchange

by Lisa Harris

  Like when his father had come to her, insulting her by offering fifty thousand dollars not to tell her side of the story. The whole situation had made her question—not for the first time—her whirlwind relationship with Adam that had made her miss noticing that there was nothing solid beneath his charm. It made her realize as well that she’d simply been enamored to the point where she wasn’t sure if she’d ever really loved him. Because it hadn’t been Adam who’d come to her rescue. In the end, Levi had been the one who’d stood up for her, sweeping in and cleaning up the mess.

  But none of that mattered. Not anymore.

  Kayla pressed her fingers against her temples. Her decision to come to Amsterdam and her rejection of that money had nothing to do with what was happening today. She’d always known she’d made the right decision, not letting the Cummings family buy her out. Not that she ever would have divulged what she knew about them.

  “Kayla, please...has Adam contacted you?”

  “No.”

  “Then we need to meet before he does.”

  Kayla frowned. Apparently this problem wasn’t going away, either.

  “Where are you?” she asked.

  “Near the city center, but I can come to you.”

  “I live a bit farther out.”

  “That’s fine. If you give me the address, I’ve already secured a taxi.”

  Of course he had. He had flown across the Atlantic, hired a taxi and was now prepared to fix things. Just like he always did.

  But the last thing she wanted to do was get involved in Adam’s life—or with anyone from the Cummings family, for that matter. Maybe the sooner she saw Levi, the sooner she could put all of this behind her.

  “Fine.” She gave him her address, thought about suggesting they discuss whatever it was they needed to discuss over dinner, then decided that would be far too personal. He could come, say whatever it was he needed to say, then leave.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked.

  “I’m fine. It’s just...it’s been a rough day.” She hesitated before continuing. She didn’t want to believe Adam was capable of hurting her, but Levi was right. Adam had threatened her, blaming her for his arrest. “I’ll explain when you get here.”

  “Then I’ll be there in about thirty minutes,” he said.

  She hung up the phone, then downed a couple of aspirin with a glass of cold water. She needed to figure out if it was Adam who was targeting her—or someone far more deadly.

  * * *

  Levi Cummings stood outside Kayla’s apartment, trying to get his nerve up to knock on the door. Which was ridiculous. He’d spent the past two years running a multimillion-dollar manufacturing compound and employing thousands of workers, which had in turn lowered the town’s unemployment to just over 4 percent. All thanks to the Cummings family. Or so their head of PR always liked to say. But while he missed his work in the army, family had always been a priority. He’d decided to put his whole heart into building a company that provided jobs by creating the tents and outdoor gear that had become income for their town.

  In the process, though, financial meetings and other responsibilities had filled up his calendar, making it so he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d actually had a chance to head out with any of his company’s gear for a day of hiking and fishing. But he knew how to handle conflict. So how had it come to the place where he was scared to knock on the door of an old friend? It was just Kayla Brooks. The girl next door. The girl he’d known forever. The girl who’d stolen his heart in seventh grade and who’d now somehow managed to bring him across the Atlantic just to ensure she was okay. What he hadn’t been able to do—at least not completely—was convince himself that he wasn’t responding out of emotion or any personal reasons. Was his being here simply a matter of family honor?

  He knocked on the door, rolled back on his heels, then stuffed his hands into his pockets while he waited for her to answer. She finally did, a full thirty seconds later.

  “Levi.” Her gaze took him in. “It’s been a long time.”

  “Almost two years. How are you?”

  She hadn’t changed. Not really. She still had the same wide hazel eyes, red hair that now reached past her shoulders and a sprinkle of freckles across her cheeks. She looked...beautiful. Not that it mattered.

  “I’m fine. Just wondering why you flew all the way to Europe to see me. And why Adam would want to see me.”

  She’d made her feelings clear the last time they’d spoken, on the day of Adam’s sentence. Levi had walked her out to the car, begging her not to take offense at how his father had tried to buy her off. Ira Cummings was used to getting what he wanted, and used to using money as a bargaining chip to get it—whether it was someone’s cooperation or someone’s silence. And this time the seventy-year-old patriarch had wanted to ensure that Kayla wouldn’t do anything that might further ruin the Cummings family name.

  But his father should have known her better than that. Levi could have told him before he handed her the check that Kayla wasn’t the kind of person to take a bribe. She wouldn’t tell her story to the paper, or anyone else for that matter, because she was one of the few people he knew who still actually held to their principles. He’d always found that refreshing. It was his father who hadn’t seen it that way.

  Kayla, though, had always been different, and she’d never do anything to hurt those around her or the town she’d grown up in. With a population of just under seven thousand, the town boasted a turn-of-the-century courthouse, a white water tower painted with the local high school mascot and Reggie’s diner, known in a hundred-mile-radius for the best catfish, fried okra and apple fritters. Levi knew Kayla loved that town as much as he did.

  She stepped back from the doorway. “You can come in.”

  He nodded, wondering how he was supposed to greet her. A hug seemed too personal at the moment, so he just thanked her, then stepped inside the cozy living room with its hardwood floors. The apartment was small, but the living room had a large window that would ensure plenty of light in the adjoining dining area and tiny galley kitchen during the day. She’d added a few personal touches, mainly some artwork on the walls, photos of friends and family that were stuck on the refrigerator and a vase full of purple and white tulips on the table, a surprise for February. What also surprised him was that it wasn’t neat and organized like he expected. As if someone had hurriedly gone through her things.

  Levi frowned. Whatever was going on, she was clearly upset about something. “When’s the last time you heard from Adam?” he asked, getting straight to the point of his visit.

  “I haven’t. I made it clear two years ago that things were over between us. I don’t know why he’d want to see me now.”

  “Neither do I, but that’s why I’m here.”

  “Trying to avoid another family scandal?”

  He brushed off the biting comment. “I’m not my father.”

  “No, but surely you haven’t forgotten the fifty thousand dollars he tried to give me, or the choice words and the long lecture it came with.”

  “I haven’t forgotten, but I didn’t come to threaten you, Kayla. I came here to warn you.”

  “About Adam?” She sat down on the couch and offered him a worn wing chair across from her. “He might have made some bad choices, but he wouldn’t hurt me.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “I’m pretty sure that Adam is the least of my worries right now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She glanced at her phone lying on the table as if she were trying to decide what to tell him. “It’s nothing. Just some things I need to take care of. You didn’t need to come, Levi.”

  “I’m not so sure about that.”

  “Then how long do you plan to stay in the country?”

  He studied her body language. She seemed on edge..
.distracted. Something was off. “Until I’m sure you’re safe.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “You don’t seem fine.” He leaned forward. He might be pressing for something that wasn’t any of his business, but he could tell by her eyes that something was wrong. “Because you clearly seem scared about something, and if you’re convinced Adam would never hurt you, then it’s about something else.”

  She mindlessly grabbed a piece of candy from a bowl on the table between them, tugged off the wrapper, then popped the sweet into her mouth.

  “Where’s your dad?” he asked, his concern rising. “I heard he was staying with you.”

  “He is, but...to be honest, I’m not sure where he is.”

  Levi leaned forward, waiting for her to continue.

  “I received some other messages today. Some...threats. But I’m pretty sure they weren’t from Adam.”

  “Can I see them?”

  She hesitated before picking up her phone. “You don’t have to come to my rescue. I’m not ten anymore.”

  A memory surfaced. The three of them had decided to take a shortcut home from school. Adam had tried to convince them no one would ever know they’d trespassed, but Mr. Sander’s bull had had other ideas. Levi had managed to pull Kayla over the fence to safety, even though she’d quickly assured him after the rescue that she could have scaled the fence on her own.

  She’d always been stubborn, even though he’d joked in return that she owed him for saving her life.

  “And this photo?” he asked. “You could have been seriously hurt.”

  “But I wasn’t.” She shook her head. “And while I could be wrong, I don’t think these texts are from your brother, Levi. They just don’t sound like him.”

  He read through the messages again. “I wouldn’t have flown all the way here if I didn’t think Adam was capable of following through with his threats.”

  “Maybe, but there’s another possibility.”

  He looked up and caught her gaze. “What do you mean?”

  “I think the threats could be related to my work.”

  “I know some about the nonprofit you work for, but how?”

  “We work with exploited and trafficked women, and not everyone is happy about what we do.”

  “Have you received threats before?”

  “Not personally, but others involved with the work have. We’re combating a hundred-billion-dollar business. We get girls off the streets, which means while there might be someone else to take the place of the girls we rescue, someone’s losing their income.”

  She was scared. He could see it in her body language and in her eyes.

  “What about the police?” he asked. “Have you told them what’s going on?”

  “Not yet. I’m not sure they can help. Traffickers use burner phones and know how to work under the radar.”

  “Maybe, but you still don’t know who’s behind this. And even if it is traffickers, the police have got to have resources that will help, or has legalizing prostitution changed things?”

  “It shifted the role of pimps and traffickers to businessmen and managers. And while some do choose this life, there are still many who are being imported into this country in order to meet the demand—including children. They are promised work but end up trapped in a world they can’t get out of.”

  “And in the meantime, the traffickers are making money,” he said. “I’m just not sure you should shrug this off. You could have been killed when that car hit your bike.”

  “But I wasn’t.”

  “No, but this clearly isn’t over.”

  Kayla’s phone beeped, and she picked it up.

  He studied her face, trying to ignore the unexpected feelings he still held for her. Because falling for his brother’s ex-fiancée would not be a good move. He’d tried to tell himself that he was only here because he felt sorry for her. She was simply an old friend, and he didn’t want anything to happen to her. But it was personal, and he wanted to help her. If he had his way, he’d take her back to the US on the next flight if he could confirm her life was in danger.

  A second later her face paled.

  “What’s wrong, Kayla?”

  She stared at the phone. “They’ve got my father.”

  “What?”

  “They sent a video.”

  “Who?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Her hand shook as she passed him the phone. He watched the ten-second video of Max sitting in a chair with his hands tied behind him as he spoke.

  “Kayla...I’m so sorry. They’re demanding that you hand over one of your girls—Mercy—in the next twenty-four hours. Or they’ve said they will kill me.”

  Two

  The street below blurred as Kayla stared out her apartment window. Car headlights streaked by, houseboats moored on the canal bobbed in the water and the endless rows of houses were lit up by hazy streetlamps and porch lights. Her mind tried to work through the logic of what she’d just seen on the video. How in the world had this happened? Someone had entered her apartment, snatched her father and was now threatening to kill him?

  “Why take my father?” she asked, speaking her thoughts out loud to Levi. “He has nothing to do with my work.”

  “They need leverage. They’re using him to get to you.”

  So those were the consequences they’d meant. If she didn’t find Mercy, they’d kill her father.

  How did a job helping people come to this?

  She studied the pedestrians and bikes passing below. Were they out there, watching her apartment? It seemed impossible to tell in the darkness. No one looked out of place, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. A chill blew through her, raising goose bumps across her forearm.

  If they were out there now...watching her...

  Maybe she was just being paranoid. They’d given her twenty-four hours to find Mercy, which meant for the next twenty-four hours it was to their advantage to keep her father alive. Because right now, he was the only leverage they had.

  And when she found Mercy? What was she supposed to do then?

  Levi crossed the room, stopping beside her. “Tell me about Mercy. Who is she?”

  “One of the girls we’ve been working with the past few months. About eighteen months ago, she was brought to Italy from Nigeria with promises of a job and money to send back to her parents. Once she got there, she found out that everything she’d been told was a bunch of lies.”

  “And now her previous...owner...wants her back?”

  Kayla nodded. It was an impossible trade. An impossible situation with no easy resolution. Trade Mercy for Max, or let her father die. How was she supposed to do either one?

  There has to be another way, God.

  “She’s only seventeen years old, Levi.”

  “I don’t think this is something you can fix on your own, Kayla.” He stepped up next to her. “You need to go to the police. It’s the only way out of this.”

  “They told me not to go to the police.” She was trying not to panic, but while she’d always known there were risks to her job, everything had suddenly spiraled out of control. And now her choices were causing consequences in other people’s lives. People she loved. “I can’t risk them hurting my father.”

  “And do you think that not going to the police is going to help?” Levi asked. “At least we’d have more resources on our side.”

  “We?” She took a step back, immediately regretting the sharp tone of her voice. “I’m sorry, but you don’t need to get involved in this. Two of my coworkers, Evi and Abel, are on their way back to Amsterdam right now. We will figure out something.”

  “I thought they told you not to get your coworkers involved. Besides, the moment I got on that plane to Europe, I was involved. And whether your life’s at risk because of my brother or a
bunch of human traffickers doesn’t really matter at this point. There’s no way I can just walk away.”

  “What about Adam?” she said. “Do you know where he is?”

  “I haven’t been able to get a hold of him.”

  She glanced up at him, suddenly grateful to have a familiar face next to her right now. This was the Levi she remembered. The man she’d always known him to be. Fiercely loyal, he would never walk away from ensuring the good guys won. It was what had propelled him to join the military in order to serve his country, as well as what had motivated him to return home when his family needed him.

  But still. How could she expect him to help fight her battle?

  “I need to see if I can get a hold of Mercy. Then I need to come up with a plan to get my father back as well, because...because I don’t know what else to do.” She pressed her lips together. She was rambling. A habit she had when she was nervous. She grabbed her phone off the table then caught his gaze. “And, Levi...thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. I’m just glad I’m here.”

  Kayla dialed Mercy’s number, praying she picked up. The phone went straight to voice mail.

  “Her phone’s off.”

  “Tell me more about the connection to your job. I know you work with International Freedom Operation, but all I know is what’s on their website.”

  “Many of the girls we help, like Mercy, lived in extreme poverty before making the journey here. When they learn of travel brokers offering visas and a plane ticket to Europe, they believe they’ve found a way to support their family.”

  “And yet it’s all a lie,” Levi said.

  Kayla nodded. “They’re now indebted to the people who smuggled them into the country and forced to work in the sex trade. We help those who have been able to escape with a place to live, job training, language classes and sometimes even citizenship.”