Lisa Harris - Deadly Exchange

“Hello?”

“Kayla?”

“Who is this?”

“It’s Levi Cummings. Listen, I know it’s been a long time,” he rushed on, “but I really need to talk to you. It’s...it’s about Adam. He’s in Amsterdam.”

Her head began to throb at the news. How was that possible? Adam was supposed to be in prison.

She contemplated hanging up. Instead, she melted into the leather chair in the corner of her bedroom, wondering what else life was going to throw at her today. Almost two years had passed since she’d walked out of that busy courtroom. One year and eleven months, give or take a day or two. Not that she was counting. Because she wasn’t. But it had been enough time to send back all of the wedding and shower gifts, as well as inform the guests that there was not going to be a ceremony. Instead, she’d donated her white satin dress to charity and started a new life, determined to recover from a broken engagement.

She hadn’t told people why the wedding had been canceled. She hadn’t had to. Adam Cummings’s arrest had been all over the news at the time: Groom Arrested for Fraud. Bride Left at the Altar.

Not literally at the altar, but it had been close enough. Three weeks after his sentence, she’d decided to accept a position with International Freedom Operation that would expand the nonprofit she worked for into Europe. She’d taken the next flight to Amsterdam, hoping to put her past—and all the bad memories—behind her.

“Kayla, are you still there?”

“Yes, I’m here. Sorry. It’s just that...hearing from you caught me off guard.”

She stood up and started pacing the small bedroom. She had enough on her plate today. Talking with her ex-fiancé’s brother really wasn’t something she had the emotional energy to deal with at the moment. Her elbow ached from the fall, and she needed to take some pain medicine. Except even pain medicine wasn’t going to be able to mask reality.

“Levi...I’m sorry.” She ran her finger across a row of books. “I don’t understand why Adam would be here. I thought he was still in prison.”

“He got out early for good behavior, and I have reason to believe that he’s in Amsterdam to see you.”

She frowned. She had no desire to see Adam, though she hadn’t exactly kept up with the news. The last time her mother had sent her an article from back home it had been about Arkansas’ most eligible bachelor, Levi Cummings, who according to the magazine was also quite a ladies’ man. The up-and-coming CEO of Potterville was also known as the man who’d saved the small town from dying out.

She shifted her mind back to the conversation.

“How long has he been out?”

“Five days.”

“Why would he want to see me? We didn’t exactly part on good terms.” Unless...unless he was the one behind what was happening today.

“Honestly, I’m not sure he would come, but that’s why I’m worried.”

Worried that your little brother is about to cause another scandal?

She squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds and tried to steady her breath. “I’m still not following you.”

There was a long pause on the line. “You heard some of the things he said about you when he left for prison. Threats he made.”

“Like blaming me for his arrest?”

She stared at a stain on the carpet that needed to be cleaned. The hit-and-run, the cryptic text messages... Was all of this because Adam still blamed her for his arrest? Something wasn’t adding up. She knew Adam—or at least she once had. And while she might not have any desire to see him again, she’d never believe he’d try to hurt her.

Or would he?

He’d spent the past two years in prison. Enough time to think about the person he blamed for putting him there and come up with a plan for revenge.

“Kayla?”

“I just can’t believe he’d do anything to hurt me,” she said.

“I’ll be honest, I haven’t seen him much these past couple of years. His choice. But he believes—or at least at one time believed—that if you hadn’t gone to the police, then he wouldn’t have gotten arrested.”

“For one,” she began, “it was the authorities who came to me. And on top of that, at the time I had no idea what Adam was involved in. But that part of my life is over, and I have no intentions of going back.”

“Please, I’m not trying to upset you, but I do want to make sure you’re safe. Which is why I think it would be better if we spoke in person.”

“Wait a minute. You’re in Amsterdam as well?”

“I just arrived in the city. I thought we could discuss what’s going on, and how we’re going to resolve the situation.”

She let out an audible sigh. Spoken like a true army intelligence officer. Like he was on a combat operation and needed information in order to protect her. But maybe she shouldn’t be surprised. Levi had always been incredibly focused. Which was why, even though he and Adam were only eleven months apart, Levi had always played the role of older brother. Even to the point that when his father had gotten sick, he’d been the one to complete his current contract with the military and then returned to rural Arkansas to run his family’s manufacturing company. And as always, he’d continued to be the glue that held the Cummings family together during a crisis.

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.