Deadly Exchange. Lisa Harris

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СКАЧАТЬ 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.

      * * *

      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.

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