Lisa Harris - Deadly Exchange

“Play their game? What do you mean?”

“I think you should respond.”

“How?”

He knew it was taking a risk, but anything they did at this point was risky. At least she wasn’t doing this on her own.

“Can I see your phone?”

She handed it to him, and he started typing.

You want me to find Mercy? Let me do it my way. I’ll find her faster if I have help.

He showed her the text.

“So we make him believe we’ll actually make the trade?”

“For the moment, yes. And I think they’ll believe you. Why wouldn’t they? They already believe you’ll choose your father over Mercy or they wouldn’t have taken him for leverage.”

He waited while she mulled over his suggestion.

“What if this makes them mad?” she asked.

“I’d say they’re already mad. Making them think you’re planning on following through with their plan is to your advantage.”

“Okay. Send it.”

He glanced back at the screen, praying his analysis of the situation was correct, and pressed Send. In the army he’d been trained to process strategic intelligence on the enemy. This was really no different. He needed to pull together all the information he could then come up with a battle plan.

He stared at the screen as if that was going to bring a quicker reply. “Do you have any idea who might be behind this?”

She shook her head as she headed toward her bedroom. “I’ve got copies of her file locked up in my safe. I don’t remember any names mentioned in her files, but I do know that she was bought and sold several times. First in Italy. Then here in Holland.”

“So we can’t just automatically narrow it down.”

She came back a minute later with a thin file folder. “I might be able to find something in here, but no one was arrested in connection to her situation. And any names we had were aliases.”

“Which is going to make our job harder.”

Another text came through. Kayla read the text then handed the phone to Levi.

Fine, but you better find her.

“What do you suggest we do?” She heard the impatience in her voice and pressed her lips together. She wasn’t trying to be difficult. She just wanted to find a way to fix the situation without making things worse. And she had no idea how.

“Let’s start with Mercy’s apartment.”

Kayla glanced out the window. “And if they try to follow us?”

“We have to make sure they don’t.”

Three

Kayla dropped Mercy’s file into her bag, then reached to take the keys to her apartment off the table. But the keys slipped through her fingers and onto the floor.

“Kayla?”

“Sorry.” She held her trembling hands out in front of her, then balled her fingers into fists. “I’m trying not to panic. Trying not to imagine what they might do to my father. He’s been through a lot this past year with my mother dying. Not to mention how hard he took my sister’s death. I’m not sure how much more he’s going to be able to endure.”

Levi’s fingers wrapped around hers, an unexpected steadying force in the middle of the storm. “I remember your father and always looked up to him as an honest leader in the community. I can only begin to imagine how hard this is on both of you, but he’s a strong man, Kayla.”

“I know, but now...”

Her words faded. How was either of them supposed to deal with this? Maybe she was underestimating her father, but she’d seen how much he’d lost and how he’d responded to that loss. She’d watched his fight against depression and the numbness that had seemed to consume him. He’d managed to hold on to his faith, but even that had become a day-to-day struggle. She’d hoped his coming to live with her would give him a new perspective, but it had only been recently that he’d started leaving the apartment. Going for walks in the morning, occasionally stopping at a pancake house for a stack of pannekoeken filled with spiced apples, syrup and whipped cream. But she knew that the healing over her mother’s death had barely begun.

“I think you should give him some credit,” Levi said, picking up her keys before pressing them gently against her palm. “He’s lost a lot in his lifetime. First your sister, and now your mom. But that doesn’t change the fact that he will pull through and find the strength he needs to get through this.”

“We got in a fight this morning,” she said. “It was over something stupid. I’d been bugging him to get out more. I thought I was trying to help him, but now...now I’d do anything just to know he was sitting safe on my couch.”

“We’ll find him. We’ll find Mercy, and we’ll figure out a way to save them both.”

“But how? Even if we find Mercy, we can’t trade her for my father. And yet if we don’t trade her, they’ll kill him.” She looked up at Levi and caught his gaze, feeling the enormous pressure of needing answers. “I’m sorry I got you involved in this. Both you and my father.”

“None of this is your fault. I came to make sure you were okay, and just because the threat has changed, my desire to keep you safe hasn’t.”

She wondered why it mattered to him. Why, after all these years, had he taken the time out of his busy schedule to keep her safe?

“Is the place close enough to walk?” Levi asked. “Or should we call for a taxi?”

“We can take the tram.” She pulled on her coat and scarf, then paused in the doorway. “And if you want to come with me, I’d like that.”

Kayla locked the door behind them before starting down the narrow staircase to the ground floor. Until she knew exactly who was behind this, it couldn’t hurt to have a bodyguard. Levi’s time in the military had given him an extra layer of strength and confidence. The same strength and confidence he’d ended up taking with him to the boardroom.

But even Levi’s presence didn’t completely settle her nerves as she stepped onto the busy street. Because the bottom line was that someone was threatening her. She studied the crowds as they headed out on foot. The narrow avenues around her house were always busy with cars, bicycles and scooters, along with a constant flow of pedestrians. She hurried beside him along the canal, with its tall, skinny row houses that all seemed to lean slightly askew reflecting in the water.

Someone clanged the bell on their handlebars. She jumped out of the way, her heart pounding as the bike zoomed past. Pressing her hand against her chest, she took in a deep breath, trying to slow her breathing. She was going to have to find a way to calm her panic.

“You actually ride your bike out here?” Levi asked.

“You get used to it. Most of the time. And besides, it’s the easiest way to get around.”

“Maybe, but when I go riding or hiking, I prefer not to be in the middle of the city.”

“There’s more to explore than just the city, even though the country’s flat terrain is not quite as rugged or even as beautiful as Arkansas.” She jumped into the trivial conversation, needing a distraction from the video of her father that continued to replay in her mind. “Last month, a couple friends and I headed out of the city on a twenty-mile route past a castle known as Muiderslot, then followed one of the scenic canals into the countryside.”

“Now that sounds like a challenge I’d enjoy.”

“You should try it one day.”

She glanced at him, hoping he didn’t think she’d meant it as an invitation for him to spend time with her. But she knew that Levi had never steered away from a challenge, whether it was hiking the Ouachita Trail, rock climbing on Mount Magazine or running a marathon.

Today, it seemed, keeping her safe was his challenge.

She grew silent again as they walked. The narrow canal and its bridges reminded her of Paris, though that was where the similarity ended. The architecture of the city was unique, with its tall, narrow buildings, their rows of windows all reflecting the water. He seemed content to let her set the pace as they continued past a row of merchants, who during the day sold flowers and bulbs from floating barges.