Deadly Exchange

by Lisa Harris

  Andrei stepped into the doorway and signaled at Nicu. They switched to another language, so she couldn’t understand what they were talking about, but their body language and loud voices made it clear that something was wrong.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  Nicu slipped her phone into his pocket, checked the cords binding her wrists and ankles, then secured a gag around her mouth. “I’m going out, but I won’t be gone long. And in the meantime...don’t do anything stupid.”

  * * *

  The chilly hall was empty as Levi made his way down the corridor. He automatically reached for his phone, but his pocket was empty. Apparently they’d thought of everything, including making sure that he didn’t have a way to communicate if he happened to escape. He shivered, wondering what had happened to his jacket. Not that it really mattered. The only thing he could think about at the moment was finding Kayla.

  He kept his footsteps quiet as he moved down the hall. Shadows danced from some lanterns casting their flickering light against the wall. The only way he could ensure he found Kayla was to do a search of the house, room by room, until he found her. And that was going on the assumption that she was here. He opened a set of double doors. The wood floor creaked beneath him as he stepped into the large room. There was a piano in the corner, along with antique sofas that fit the architecture of the house. At one time the room must have been stunning. But from what he could tell, the place was now nothing more than a front for criminals.

  He stepped back out into the hallway, wondering how an impulse decision to catch a flight to Europe had suddenly turned out to be so complicated. Especially when he was rarely impulsive. While he’d followed his brother to Amsterdam, he’d never imagined a scenario like this one. If only he were dealing with Adam right now, instead of a bunch of unnamed traffickers. But Adam had yet to answer his calls since Levi’s arrival, and for the moment there were more serious issues to deal with than his little brother.

  He fought to keep his focus as he continued searching the house, room by room, memorizing the floor plan as he went. While the potential of a stunning property was there, the house had clearly been neglected for years. From what he’d seen so far, there were at least two wings, two stories and dozens of rooms, most of which contained water marks on the ceiling and chipped, faded paint on the walls. But after thirty minutes, there was still no sign of Kayla or the men he’d heard earlier.

  He stopped in front of three closed doors at the end of yet another narrow hallway. He opened the door of the first one and stepped into a bedroom that looked as if it hadn’t been occupied for years. Layers of dust had settled across a walnut dresser and matching bed frame. A duvet lay on the bed, faded from years of sunlight, while cobwebs marked the ceiling. It was like the rest of the house. Empty and neglected.

  So how had their abductors gotten their hands on the seemingly abandoned house? And what exactly were they using it for?

  An image of the dead girl in the morgue filled his mind. An isolated place like this would be the perfect spot to temporarily hide girls who were being trafficked into the city and other locations. But if that was true, where were they? So far there was no sign of anyone living here. He had to keep looking.

  The next door opened to yet another bedroom, but again, no sign of Kayla. He was getting frustrated. He’d been sure she was still with him when they’d pulled them out of the vehicle. Why would they have taken the time to move her somewhere else when they had this abandoned house?

  No. She had to be here.

  But even with his systematic search, there had to be something he was missing. Another wing, a basement or an attic. He stopped at the end of the hallway in front of a door that led outside to the back of the property, and he tried the handle. Every outside door and window he’d come across so far were securely locked with dead bolts that, as far as he was concerned, were impenetrable with his limited lock-picking skills.

  Someone clearly didn’t want him getting out.

  Ten minutes later, he’d searched half a dozen more rooms, and there was still no sign of Kayla. No signs of a landline that would give him access to communicate with the outside world. Nothing.

  I need to find her, God.

  A flash of red caught his eye on the floor in the living room where he stood. He stopped and picked up the scarf Kayla had been wearing. He glanced around the room, the worry in his gut growing. She had been here, but where was she now? So far—besides the scarf—there had been no sign of Kayla. No sign of anyone.

  He was running out of house and out of time. But if she wasn’t here, where was she? He glanced back at the room filled with furniture from another era—couple of wing-back chairs, a long sofa and a few scattered paintings on the walls. Just because she’d been here didn’t mean they hadn’t taken her somewhere else. These men could potentially have property all across the city.

  The thought sent a chill through him.

  How many girls like Mercy had disappeared, never to be seen again until one day their lifeless bodies showed up at the morgue?

  He heard a door slam and stopped.

  Someone was definitely in the house.

  Glancing around the room, he grabbed a poker from beside the fireplace and gripped it firmly in his hand. It might not be the best defense against a gun, but it would at least give him a chance. He started down a hallway he had yet to search, toward the sound of raised voices.

  Another door slammed. Levi stopped. Footsteps ensued. Whoever was in the house was coming toward him.

  He glanced down the hall. He needed to hide, but he also needed to see who they were. And if Kayla was with them. He grabbed the handle of the nearest door. Locked. The footsteps grew louder. He hurried to the next door, this time grateful it was unlocked. He stepped inside the room, leaving the door open a crack. Holding his breath, Levi prayed they weren’t looking for him. If they realized he’d escaped, he could end up putting both his life and Kayla’s in further danger.

  The voices grew louder. Levi pressed his ear against the door and listened, straining to understand their conversation that sounded garbled to his ears. He heard them exit the house, then quickly moved to the window. He could see the sun peeking above the horizon. Seconds later, a car sped down the long driveway toward a wrought-iron gate. The vehicle was too far away for him to see clearly inside the car, but as far as he could tell, the two men had exited alone.

  But why? Surely whoever had abducted them wouldn’t have left them alone, unless they believed there was no chance of escape. One of the dogs barked in the distance, reminding him that they weren’t exactly unattended. But if Kayla was in the house, he needed to find her. Because he had no doubt about one thing: they would be back.

  With his senses on high alert, he resumed his search, starting with the locked door he’d passed. Most of the doors inside the house had been open, which made him wonder why they’d lock the door, unless there was something—or someone—they wanted to hide.

  Levi quickly worked to pick the lock before stepping inside the room. Instead of old furniture, this space was a sparsely furnished office with a modern desk, a chair and a couple of metal file cabinets. He crossed the room, quickly searching the desk. Inside were folders and financial records. He glanced at the file cabinet, but as much as he’d like to know what was in that cabinet, his priority had to be finding Kayla. He made a mental note of the location, then continued down the hall.

  Another dozen yards and two empty rooms later, the hallway dead-ended.

  Levi turned around and jogged up a staircase to the second floor of the house, his pulse racing with frustration. He glanced out a window at the top of the stairs. There was no sign of the men returning, but his gut told him they’d be back soon. He needed to hurry.

  The first door he came to was locked. He studied the lock, realizing immediately that this mechanism wasn’t going to be easy to pick. He
knocked on the door. The solid wood was going to be a disadvantage if he couldn’t pick the lock. But if he was going to search the house properly, he needed to get into this room. A noise emanated from inside the room.

  Kayla?

  “Kayla, it’s Levi. If that’s you...”

  He gave up on trying to pick the lock and decided instead to try plan B. With one swift motion, Levi drove the heel of his foot into the door. The wood splintered, so he did it a second time. If anyone else was in this house, he wasn’t going to be able to keep his presence a secret, but at this point he didn’t care. If he got caught, he’d deal with the situation, but in the meantime, he was going to find out if she was on the other side.

  Eight

  Kayla’s gaze stayed fixed on the door as it slammed open, hitting the wall behind it.

  A whoosh of air left her lungs as relief flooded through her. For a moment, she’d thought Nicu was back again. Instead, Levi stood towering over her like a knight in shining armor who’d just arrived to save the day. And with him here, they might actually be able to get out of here. Might be able to get to Mercy before Nicu found her.

  “Hey...” He quickly tugged off the gag. “Sorry I took so long.”

  “Took so long?” She couldn’t help but laugh. “I just can’t believe you’re here.”

  He knelt down in front of her and began working to untie her wrists. “Did they hurt you?”

  “No.” She glanced at the door, her heart still racing. If Nicu and his brother returned and caught them trying to escape... “But they will return.”

  “I know.” He tugged at one of the knots with his teeth, then finally managed to loosen them.

  Thirty seconds later, she was free.

  She reached up and touched the side of his face. “You’ve got quite a shiner.”

  He wadded up the twine and tossed it into the corner of the room. “It’s nothing. Trust me. I’ve had a lot worse.”

  “Thank you,” she said. “For fighting for me.”

  He pointed to his eye. “Unfortunately I lost.”

  “Maybe, but I never stopped believing you’d find me. We don’t have a lot of time. We’ve got to get out of here and find Mercy.”

  “So did you talk to them?” He started working on untying her feet.

  She nodded. “One of them. They made me send Mercy a voice message, telling her to meet me at noon at the main train station. If I didn’t, they assured me that we’d end up in the canal like the girl from the morgue.”

  “You did what you believed you had to do at that moment.”

  “Did I?” She’d yet to shake the guilt she felt. “My only plan was that we could somehow find her before they do. I’m also hoping she’ll pick up on what I said between the lines and simply not show up.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Kayla’s mind replayed the message she’d left Mercy. “I told her I was sorry I missed lunch on Monday, which I didn’t, and mentioned that we’d gone to the station last November, which we hadn’t done, either.”

  “Smart girl,” he said as the cords around her ankles finally came free. “Where is your phone?”

  “They took it with them,” she said as he helped her to her feet.

  She glanced at the door again, wishing she could stop shaking. Wishing she didn’t feel like crying.

  “Kayla...hey...we’re going to figure this out.”

  “I know. I’m just...scared. We’ve got to get to her before they do.”

  He hesitated, then pulled her against his chest. “We’re going to find a way out of this, because there are no other options.”

  She nuzzled her face against his shoulder, wishing she wasn’t acting like a blubbering baby. She’d always hated feeling out of control, but this was different. The stakes had risen, people’s lives were on the line and she had no idea how to stop what was happening.

  She took a step back and looked at him, sucking up as much courage as she could to replace the fear. “Is there a way out of this place?”

  “Not that I’ve seen so far. Whoever’s behind this clearly doesn’t want us to leave. And while I haven’t searched the entire house, all the doors to the outside that I’ve come across are bolted shut. I did see a couple of windows we might be able to get through, though most of them are barred. And then, once we’re outside the house, there are guard dogs and a large fence surrounding at least part of the property.”

  A piece of cake. Right.

  She glanced out the window overlooking the front drive and the neglected tree-studded yard and felt the panic returning.

  How in the world are we supposed to get out of here, God?

  “So do you have any idea where we are?” she asked.

  “No, though we have to be out of the city, and from what I’ve been able to see, the property around this house is huge.”

  The walls of the room pressed in around her, pushing her toward a full-blown panic attack. “There has to be a way out of here. We’ve got to get out before they return.”

  “I know.” He brushed his fingers across her arm. “But I don’t think we can go yet.”

  She caught his gaze and realized what he was thinking. “You think my father might be here.”

  “I do.”

  She prayed he was right, but the reminder of her father brought another wave of guilt. What if he wasn’t here? What if they didn’t find him? She’d invited him to come stay with her in order to take care of him, and now his life was in danger because of her.

  “When I was looking for you,” Levi continued, “I searched a large section of the house. It’s huge, easily ten to fifteen thousand square feet, which means we need to keep looking. And on top of that, I found an office downstairs. There could be evidence that could give us leverage we need in getting back not only Mercy, but your father as well if we don’t find him here.”

  Kayla nodded but couldn’t help noting the risks. They didn’t know if her father was here, but she knew without a doubt that if Nicu and his brother came back and caught them, things were not going to end well. But this might very well be their only chance to find him.

  “Ok. Let’s go.”

  Maybe they could find both her father and Mercy before it was too late.

  “We won’t stay longer than we have to, but we still need to search the rest of this wing,” Levi said, heading out the door. “And while we search for your father, we’ll look for a way out.”

  She rubbed the backs of her wrists where the cords had rubbed against her skin as she followed him out of the room. Her entire body ached. She was thirsty and hungry, but none of that mattered at the moment.

  “What kind of leverage are you hoping to find?” she asked.

  “Anything thing that might tell us who these people are, including finances or some kind of paper trail that would prove they’re holding girls against their will and forcing them to work as prostitutes.”

  Which in turn might make a way for them to save both her father and Mercy.

  Kayla followed him down the long hallway, queasy from worry and exhaustion. Black-and-white portraits hung on vintage gold, textured wallpaper. Antique wall sconces helped light the otherwise darkened hallway. On any other day, she would have loved the chance to explore the old house. But not today. Not now. Every second that passed meant a second closer to their abductors’ return.

  “Is there anything else you can tell me about the men?” Levi asked as he opened the next door that led to another bedroom.

  She drew in a slow breath before answering. “The one who spoke with me was Nicu, the man Ana mentioned. The second man was Andrei, who has to be his brother. They both sounded like they were from eastern Europe.”

  “And what did they want besides for you to call Mercy?”

  “Apparently he’s convinced I know where Mercy is and he decided that kidnappin
g my father wasn’t enough motivation. They have pictures of us outside the morgue and accused us of going to the police. And the girl we saw at the morgue...” A shiver ran through her. “He told me she was one of theirs. Another stab at motivating me to give him Mercy.”

  “I’m so sorry.” He stopped in front of her then rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “You’re freezing.”

  “I’ll be okay.”

  Except it wasn’t the temperature outside or the dampness inside that had her shivering.

  “When you were looking for me, did you see any signs that people were living here?”

  Levi started walking again, and she hurried to keep up with him. “No.”

  “Like you said, though, this is the perfect location. It’s off the grid, and the dense vegetation and hedges surrounding the property keep it private. Who would think about a bunch of girls locked up in a place like this?”

  “Unfortunately, all I saw was some food in the kitchen fridge. Nothing else.” Levi opened the next closed door and took a step inside the empty room. There was still no sign of her father. “Back to Nicu and his brother... Do you know why they left?”

  “I think maybe they got a phone call. Andrei was clearly angry. The two of them started fighting. And while I’m not sure what it is, there’s something else I noticed. There is something personal about all of this. Nicu’s relationship with Mercy. I got the impression it’s not just about money.”

  “What do you mean?” Levi stopped in front of the next open door, which led into a library with eight-foot bookshelves. “Are you saying he loves her?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe. In his own twisted way.”

  “Even someone like Nicu has to have a weakness. You said they were fighting. Do you know what they were fighting about?”

  “No. They weren’t speaking English.” She quickly scanned the room, feeling the urgency to find her father and get out. “But Andrei was clearly upset, and whatever he said upset Nicu as well. It was obvious Nicu didn’t want to leave, but he checked my wrists to make sure I wasn’t going anywhere, and that was the last time I saw him.”