The Agent

by Herkness, Nancy

  “I think . . . yes.” She sounded shaky but determined.

  “You debate whether to do it. But you need to know what he wants, or you won’t be able to sleep tonight. So you call him.” He wanted her to react in ways consistent with his imagined scenario. “Remember, you are alone in a hotel room. No one is there to coach you or help you.”

  “I know what that’s like.” He heard the shiver of fear in her voice.

  “Good. Whatever your husband says, I want you to imagine that’s the situation you’re in and answer him accordingly. It’s important.” Van Houten needed to believe that he had his wife at his mercy. It would make him less careful.

  “Yes, I can do that.” There was some confidence now.

  “May I speak with Leland again?” When his partner got on the phone, Tully asked, “Is she going to be able to handle this?”

  “I believe so,” Leland said.

  “Okay, I need you and Dawn to take her to her bedroom, close the door, and leave her there alone while she makes the call.”

  “I’d feel better if Dawn was with her.”

  Tully knew this would be hard for Leland to stomach. “I don’t want any coaching. She has to sound natural . . . and scared.”

  Leland uttered a curse. “Understood. I’ll be listening with you, though.”

  “Okay, set it up. I don’t want to make Van Houten stew in his own anger any longer.”

  Tully put on a headset and stared at the computer screen, forcing himself to sit still when he wanted to leap out of his chair and race off in search of Natalie. Waiting had always been part of his job and he had trained himself to use that time to think. He had to see this as a standard client-kidnapping scenario so he could view all the angles with his usual cool precision. But visions of Natalie being touched in any way by Van Houten made red flare through his brain.

  The electronic ringtone of a phone pinged through the headset and Tully focused.

  “Regina, my dear.” Van Houten’s clenched-jaw, upper-crust voice grated on Tully’s eardrums.

  “You’re not supposed to contact me.” She sounded confused and upset. Perfect, in fact. “My lawyer said I shouldn’t call you at all.”

  “Your lawyer is an asshole.” Anger sharpened his tone. “But you made the right decision to override him.”

  “I couldn’t go back to sleep after he told me.” Her voice quavered. “Why are you calling in the middle of the night?”

  “Because I miss you, darling. I want you to come home.” He oozed insincere concern.

  “You could have waited until tomorrow to tell me.” Now she sounded just a touch annoyed. That would provoke him.

  “I thought you might need some additional persuasion, so I’ve arranged for that.” No more concern, all hard edge.

  “There’s nothing you could do to persuade me.” She spit out the words like bullets.

  “You had help from a nosy bitch named Natalie Hart. Remember her? Well, I have her now, and if you don’t come home, some very bad things will happen to her.”

  “What?” Regina’s shriek was genuine and ear splitting. “You can’t do that. You can’t hurt her. I’ll call the police.”

  “No police or she dies right now.” His voice was a whipcrack.

  Tully felt his lips drawing back from his teeth as he snarled like a wolf. He was going to kill Van Houten with his bare hands and enjoy every second of it. And that was just for threatening Natalie.

  “Okay, okay, no police.” Regina was conciliatory, trying to calm him down as though she’d had to do it many times before. “What do you want me to do?”

  “I told you. I want you to come home to me. You are my wife. You’re carrying my child. You belong with me.” His tone turned cold. “I was deeply offended that I had to learn of your pregnancy from Dr. Rowland. Thank God he’s an old family friend and felt I should know. Why didn’t you tell me yourself?”

  “I-I was scared.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “You hurt me.”

  “I’ll never do it again. You’re too important to me. I love you.” All phrases spoken without any conviction.

  “But you’re going to hurt Natalie.”

  “Only if you force me to. Come home to me, and Natalie goes back to her nice little house without ever knowing she was here.” He began with a coaxing tone, but his next words were pure sharpened knives. “If you make the wrong choice, Natalie will disappear forever, buried where no one will find her. And her death will be very, very painful.” The last was said with relish.

  Tully’s anger was swamped by a wave of cold terror because he could hear in Van Houten’s voice that the man wanted to kill Natalie. Even if Regina gave in to his demand to return, Natalie would still be in danger.

  Once again he held on to his control and remained in the desk chair, one part of his brain considering and discarding options while the other part listened to the conversation.

  An anguished sob came from Regina, one that sounded entirely genuine. “All right.” Her voice cracked. “I’ll come. But I don’t have any way to get there. I’m at a hotel.” Regina was sticking to Tully’s imaginary scenario like a champ.

  “I’ll send a car for you. Just tell me where you are.”

  “My lawyer said I shouldn’t tell you that.” She paused. “I know, I’ll take a taxi. You can pay for it when I get there.” There was a slight edge of pleasure in her voice at the expense for her husband.

  “Why can’t you just . . . that’s fine.” Tully could hear Van Houten tamping down his anger at her defiance. “The taxi can drop you at the gate. The guards will pay for it and give you a ride to the house.”

  That screwed up Tully’s plan to be the taxi driver.

  “Please, don’t hurt Natalie,” Regina begged.

  “As long as you cooperate, I won’t.” With audible effort, he softened his tone. “I’m so glad you’re coming home, darling.”

  “I’ll be there as soon as I can get the taxi.” Regina’s voice was almost strangled.

  Van Houten disconnected first.

  Tully called Regina. “You did great. You had me convinced you were alone in a hotel room.”

  “Do I have to take a taxi to his house?” she asked, fear vibrating through the phone.

  “I’m really sorry to put you through this, but yes, you will. Don’t worry. I’ll be following the whole time. You just won’t see me.”

  He heard Dawn’s voice in the background. “Regina, are you okay?”

  “Excuse me,” Regina said to Tully before her voice became muffled. “Yes, I’m fine. This is Tully on the phone.”

  “Is Leland there?” Tully asked. “Could I speak with him?”

  “Sure.”

  “What are we going to do to get Natalie back?” Leland asked.

  “You’re going to take Regina to the hotel nearest you, which is the Lennox. Go inside the lobby with Regina and stay low-key in a corner until I get there. Then get her a cab. I’ll follow until the cab gets close to Van Houten’s estate.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Leland said. “I’ll stay in the car and act as communications coordinator and backup.”

  Tully considered the pros and cons of Leland’s presence. Number one, it would be hard to convince his partner not to come. Number two, he could be useful with his computer magic.

  “Okay. Bring your souped-up laptop so you can monitor through my vest camera.” Tully was already heading for the garage. “I’m leaving now. We’ll talk further on the way to New Jersey.”

  The Manhattan streets were never empty, but traffic was light, so Tully made it to the Lennox in ten minutes, partly because he focused all his pent-up energy on dodging slow-moving vehicles and blasting through yellow lights.

  When he pulled up in front of the canopied entrance, a standard yellow New York City taxi idled by the curb. That meant they wouldn’t have to wait. Tully parked by a fire hydrant and strode into the lobby, where Regina, Dawn, and Leland stood in a tense group. Tully noticed that the only person dr
essed in normal clothing was Regina, who wore jeans and a blue-and-white-striped blouse with running shoes. She clutched the same damn Gucci bag that had almost gotten her caught by her husband’s goon, and her dyed-brown hair tumbled over her shoulders.

  Dawn and Leland both wore head-to-toe black.

  Thank God it was New York City so no one looked twice at a group of black-clad people. They were just making a fashion statement.

  “I’m coming too,” Dawn said, holding up her hand to forestall Tully’s objections. “Natalie’s one of my best friends. I’ll stay in the car with Leland.”

  “I don’t have time to argue,” Tully said. “But you and Leland better stay put. You know how I feel about civilians in the cross fire.” The truth was Dawn could handle herself when it came to a crisis. She’d proved that a few months before.

  Tully turned to Regina. The young woman’s face was as white as a sheet but she gave him a shaky nod. “I hoped I’d never have to set foot in that house of horrors again,” she said. “But Natalie helped me when I needed it most.”

  “You are a brave woman,” Tully said with real admiration before he nodded toward Dawn and Leland. “And you’re not alone.”

  “Knowing that is the only thing that’s keeping me together,” Regina admitted. “At least me being scared half to death is exactly what Dobs is expecting.” She tried for a wry smile that went crooked.

  “When I came in, there was a cab already at the curb. Do you have cash?” Tully asked, his hand going toward his wallet. “You may have to pay him up front to go to New Jersey.”

  “Leland gave me plenty,” Regina said. She straightened her spine and took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m going now.”

  Looking like she was headed for a firing squad, she marched out the front door of the hotel. Tully trailed her, keeping out of sight of the taxi driver, just in case the man was more observant than most cabbies.

  Regina had a long conversation with the driver, undoubtedly discussing how much she would tip for the lengthy ride. For a moment, Tully was afraid the driver would refuse, but then Regina climbed in.

  “Let’s go.” Tully waved Dawn and Leland through the door. “I’ve got the cab’s medallion and license numbers.”

  “I put the tracking software on Regina’s phone so we can follow out of sight.” Leland hefted his computer case. “Don’t worry. It would take someone as good as me to find the software.” He smiled.

  They climbed into Tully’s big SUV, Leland riding shotgun.

  “Before you open up your computer, I want you to get my backup gun out of the safe,” Tully said. He pressed his thumb to the biometric lock and the top clicked open. “Keep it in the car with you. I don’t expect you to need it but better to be prepared.”

  Dawn gave a choke of disquiet from the back seat. “Shouldn’t you call in some real backup? Like the police or the FBI? Leland and I are not exactly commandos.”

  “You and Leland are not even supposed to be here,” Tully said. “I’m just worried about your safety.”

  “You mean we’re not supposed to burst through the door with guns blazing?” Leland asked as he loaded the gun with practiced smoothness. Tully had insisted that both his partners learn gun skills when KRG got successful enough to attract international attention.

  “If you do, I may shoot you myself,” Tully said.

  Dawn gave a crack of laughter. “Good to know your position on the subject.”

  Tully remembered Van Houten’s voice with a cold shudder. “I’m serious. Van Houten will kill Natalie in a second if he thinks Regina has double-crossed him. Because he wants Regina back, he’s decided to shift all the blame for Regina’s flight to Natalie. So his hatred is targeted entirely at her now.”

  “Shit!” Dawn said.

  Tully had stronger words for it but he just drove, keeping the taxi in sight until Leland had the tracking program up and running. In the city it was easy to keep vehicles between his car and the cab. Once they got through the tunnel, it would be more difficult to hide, so he was glad to have Leland’s tech wizardry.

  Until it gave him too much time to think. Sheer terror flooded through him like a frigid tide as he realized something. “He knows he can’t get away with this. He’s going to leave the country.”

  “I had that same thought,” Leland said quietly. “I’ve been working on hacking into his confidential financial information.”

  “Why is it bad that he’s leaving the country?” Dawn asked.

  “There will be no legal consequences for his actions here,” Tully said.

  “Oh.” She was silent a moment. “Oh, I see.”

  The tension in the car ratcheted up to a whole new level. Tully tried not to picture Natalie’s blonde hair matted with blood or her blue eyes staring but empty of life. He’d been to too many crime scenes, which allowed him to vividly imagine what she would look like in death.

  “Shit!” he said, his hands clamped so tight around the wheel that even with the leather padding it dug into his palms.

  “Easy,” Leland said, his fingers flying across the keyboard even as he spoke. “We’ll get her out of this. I have total confidence in you.”

  “We broke up this morning,” Tully said. “I was sulking instead of doing my job to protect her. This is on me.”

  “You had a bodyguard with her,” Leland pointed out.

  “I should have gone to meet the woman she took in, Sarah Lacey. Get her vibe in person.”

  “What do you think you would have found out?” Dawn asked from the back seat.

  “That she was a phony, a plant.”

  “How?” Dawn prodded.

  “I trust my instincts.”

  “I’m not sure you could have convinced Natalie not to take her in unless you had some kind of proof,” Dawn said. “She’s pretty protective of her abused wives.”

  “Jenya wanted to take her to a safe house but Natalie refused,” Tully admitted. “That reminds me . . . I need to call Deion.”

  He called through the car’s voice function. Deion picked up and said, “Jenya is going to be fine. She was drugged with a fairly heavy dose of rohypnol. The hospital is monitoring her overnight but they aren’t concerned about her recovery.”

  “That’s good news.” Tully loosened his grip on the wheel slightly. “Stay there until she wakes up. Although I should warn you, she’ll be pissed as hell that someone got the drop on her,” Tully said as he imagined Jenya’s reaction.

  “That’s a relief,” Dawn said after Tully disconnected.

  Now that Jenya wasn’t in danger, Tully shifted to anger. “She got a heavy dose. She could have died. Another strike against Van Houten.”

  “Are you really keeping track?” Leland asked.

  “Oh yeah, and he has a hell of a lot to answer for.”

  Minutes passed with only sporadic bursts of keyboarding from Leland. “I’m into his brokerage account,” he said.

  “What have you got?” Tully asked.

  Leland whistled. “Van Houten has taken a lot of money out of the stock market in the last few days and then transferred it out.”

  “Probably offshore,” Tully said and banged his fist against the wheel. “I’m going to nail that son of a bitch so he never sees another dime of his family fortune. Derek and Alastair can make sure it all goes to Regina and the baby.”

  The cab took the exit ramp off the highway.

  “Okay, it’s almost showtime,” Tully said. “You’ll see on my vest cam when I get inside the mansion. I’ll let you know when I want you to get hold of the police chief in Cofferwood. He knows Natalie and me, so he’ll make things happen.”

  “How are you going to get in if the taxi is being stopped at the gate?” Leland asked.

  Tully smiled with a razor edge. “Van Houten is providing my transportation.”

  “I’m not sure I follow,” Leland said.

  “You will when you see where we’re stopping.”

  They followed the taxi’s route through the winding
roads of rural New Jersey. The only streetlights were at major intersections, so most of the drive was lit by the moon, the headlights, and the glow of Leland’s laptop screen.

  Tully slowed to make sure he didn’t miss the turn and then spotted the gateposts, pulling in between them and stopping almost immediately. “Here’s where I get off. You go ahead to the estate, but park out of sight.”

  Leland peered out the window. “Where the hell are we?”

  “At the stables.” Tully pulled the black cap on. “Van Houten raises Thoroughbreds, so I can get there fast.”

  “You’re not going to try to jump a horse over the gate!” Dawn said, sounding alarmed.

  “No. I know a place where the border hedge is thin and low. The horse can brush its way through, even if it’s a lousy jumper.” Tully grinned. “No one expects a man on horseback, so the guards will figure it’s a deer or something.”

  “Good, because you need to be in one piece to rescue Natalie,” Dawn said, her voice both shaky and stern. “I’m counting on you.”

  Tully turned to meet Dawn’s gaze. “She’s as important to me as she is to you. Maybe more so.”

  Leland was still unconvinced. “You’re going to ride a horse in the dark past armed guards?”

  “Think of me as the cavalry.” Tully swung out of the SUV and jogged up the road toward the barns.

  In fact, his plan was risky, but he couldn’t figure out any other way to cover the distance from the perimeter of the estate to the house fast enough to protect both Regina and Natalie. He didn’t mention to Leland that he intended to take several horses to create confusion among the guards. He hoped like hell none of the Thoroughbreds got spooked and injured themselves.

  As he veered right toward the barn that housed the tack room and the less valuable horses, he thanked his lucky stars that Van Houten had offered him the tour of the stables . . . and that he’d taken the man up on it. Some whims paid off.

  He slid his lock-pick set from one of his pockets and made short work of the outside door into the tack room. As he walked into the dark space, the smell of saddle soap, fresh hay, and warm horses brought a welcome, if false, sensation of comfort, an illusion left over from his adolescent years, when Farmer Hollinger’s barn had been his refuge. He shoved that aside and flicked on the lights since there were no windows in the room. Collecting one saddle and bridle along with two lead lines, he flicked off the light and opened the door into the stable’s central corridor.