Kayla waited while Levi unlocked the front door with the guard’s key, praying that after making it this far, they’d find a way off the property.
“You okay?” he asked, slipping the set of keys into his pocket.
“I will be once we get out of here.”
She blinked back the tears, overwhelmed by the enormity of the situation. They might be out of the house, but they weren’t exactly home free. She glanced down the long walk that led to the driveway and studied the terrain. The house rested on the south side of the property. The surrounding vegetation and green lawn—dense like the gardens around them—were big enough that she couldn’t see the edges of the property. Which meant all they had to do now was make it to the wall, scale the perimeter fence, then find a ride back into the city without getting caught.
Right.
“Where are the dogs?” she asked, wrapping the scarf Levi had found around her neck to block the wind. The sun might be up, but the temperatures had yet to rise.
“I don’t know, but I saw two of them from the house. German shepherds.”
“Ready to eat us for lunch,” she mumbled.
“Are you afraid of dogs?” he asked as they headed away from the house toward the front gate, keeping close to the overgrown tree line as they went.
“I love them, actually. But that doesn’t mean I’m in the mood for an encounter with a couple of attack dogs.”
She stuffed her hands into her pockets in an attempt to ward off the cold and felt her phone. She pulled it out and went to her contact list. Her first priority had to be finding a way to get a hold of Mercy in order to ensure she didn’t show up at the train station.
“Kayla, wait.” Levi wrapped his hand around her fingers that were holding the phone.
“What’s wrong? We can make sure Mercy doesn’t show up at Amsterdam Central.”
“Which would be great, but before we try to call Mercy or the cavalry, we need to make sure Nicu isn’t tracking the phone’s GPS or monitoring its calls.”
“In case Mercy tries to call me.” She sobered at the words.
He nodded. “We can’t take a chance of us leading them to her.”
She let him take the phone. “You think they what...put some sort of spyware on my phone?”
“Since we found that one guy with spy gear at the girls’ apartment? Yeah. I’m not putting anything past them. Not at this point. Who knows what his plan is?” He nodded toward the house. “I know we need to get out of here, but this shouldn’t take long. Just keep an eye out for the dogs.”
She glanced back toward the house while Levi went to work on the phone—and she battled the sick feeling growing inside her. They were standing beneath a copse of trees that should keep them hidden if Nicu drove up, but as much as they needed a phone to call for help, they also needed to get off the property.
“How did you learn all of this?” she asked, clueless as to what was involved in detecting spyware.
“It helps if you run a company with a highly qualified security officer who insists on training that goes beyond private board meetings and occasional security emails. He thought it might come in handy one day after a handful of threats, so I spent a couple days with our IT guys. They taught me a ton of stuff.”
“Regarding security threats?”
“That’s where it started. About six months ago, instead of getting a new phone, I decided to get mine fixed at a local repair shop. But after I got it back, I noticed that my data usage had increased significantly and there were often strange background noises when I made a call.”
“All from spyware?”
“A disgruntled employee had paid off someone to put the malware on my phone in an attempt to gain some inside trading information.” He shook his head. “Looks like the GPS was turned off, probably in case the police try and track it, but I also found spyware.”
So Levi had been right.
“There’s a trap door in this particular spyware that will monitor any calls. Getting rid of it is going to be tricky. I’m going to have to find and delete those files.”
She was pacing again, both from nerves and trying to stay warm. Another roadblock wasn’t what they needed right now.
“Is this worth waiting for?” she asked.
“It is if we’re going to try to get help.”
The sound of a motor in the distance caught her attention. Sun reflected off a vehicle as it drove through the front gate and started up the drive. Nicu—or someone—was here.
Levi grabbed her hand. “I’ve started running an update that should delete the spyware. But in the meantime, we need to get out of here.”
He didn’t have to tell her twice.
They ran east, away from the driveway, careful to stay among the overgrown trees and bushes. But keeping hidden wasn’t going to be enough. Levi had seen the dogs, and they also knew that at least the front part of the property was fenced, if not the entire property. They had to find a way out and to the main road before Nicu realized they weren’t in the house and came searching for them.
Which meant at this point, every second counted.
Kayla held her breath as a black sedan with tinted windows in the back drove past them, its tires crunching the gravel beneath it. She stifled a sneeze as the vehicle finally stopped at the end of the drive, then Nicu and his brother jumped out and headed for the house.
“It’s them,” she said.
“Let’s go.”
Levi took her hand again and headed toward the front gate, careful to stay in the shadows. Praying desperately that they weren’t seen.
“How much time do you think we have until they start searching outside the house?” she asked.
“I’m guessing just as long as it takes to meet up with the security guard and get his side of the story.”
Which meant minutes at the most.
A ten-foot iron fence topped with razor wire surrounded the property as far as she could see. Getting over it was going to be difficult if not impossible. They started along the perimeter of the fence toward the front gate, searching for a way out.
“I’m not seeing an easy way over this fence,” she said.
“I agree, and the property’s too big for us to take the time to check out the entire fence line for vulnerabilities.”
“We could head for the front gate,” Kayla said. “It should be possible to open it manually.”
Levi glanced at her. “So in other words, we need to hope it’s easier to get out than in.”
“Exactly.”
And if Nicu and his brother started searching the grounds before they got out of here...
He was still holding her hand as they slipped through the trees toward the gate. It wasn’t the first time she realized how thankful she was that he was here. There was something protective about his presence. Something that managed to quiet her anxious spirit. For a moment, she couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to let him wrap his arms around her and promise her that nothing was going to hurt her. Not the dogs. Not Nicu or his security detail.
But that was a place she couldn’t go.
Show us what to do, God...
Because there were no guarantees that he was going to be able to get them out of here without getting caught. And her falling apart wasn’t going to help, either.
She kept moving alongside Levi, alert for any signs of either the dogs or Nicu. Levi squeezed her hand tighter as they ran, giving her a shot of courage that worked to calm her nerves.
Kayla stumbled over a fallen branch, then quickly regained her balance. Movement caught the corner of her eye and she momentarily slowed down. The two German shepherds were running toward them.
“Levi, forget Nicu...we’ve got a second problem.”
* * *
Levi heard the dogs a split second before he saw them.
“Kayla...we need to run—”
“Stop. Stay where you are.” She let go of his hand, then tugged gently on the sleeve of his jacket. “We need to stay still and calm. Avoid any eye contact and don’t turn your back on the dogs.”
Her command threw him off. He was used to making split-second decisions—and right now his assessment of the situation said run—but something about the urgency in her voice made him follow her lead.
“Do you really think that’s a good strategy at this point?” he asked.
“You might be the expert on military stuff, but my grandfather used to train K-9 handlers. Which is why I know dogs and that running at this point is worse.”
“I’d forgotten about that,” he said, still not totally convinced.
But there was no way they could get back to the house or, for that matter, to the perimeter fence, before the dogs caught up with them.
“Gramps taught me everything I know. Most dogs aren’t planning to bite, even when they’re aggressive. Well-trained attack dogs don’t attack unless their owners are being threatened or they’ve been given a command. But if you run, they’re going to instinctively chase us, and if that happens, they will catch us.”
“Not if we can run faster than the dogs.”
“Trust me, the odds are against that happening. It will amp up their aggression, and we will lose. I’ve seen it happen more than once. So no sudden arm movements, hands in your pockets, no eye contact.”
Levi felt his blood pressure go up. He’d faced human enemies with less apprehension than this. “These aren’t family pets, Kayla. They’re trained guard dogs.”
They were now thirty yards away and closing in quickly.
“I know,” she said.
“We’ve got less than ten seconds until they’re here. Are you sure about this?”
“Face them, but don’t make eye contact. Hopefully if we stay still they will calm down and lose interest.”
Hopefully?
He didn’t like those odds.
But while he still wasn’t convinced, he was going to trust her on this one. “Did I ever tell you that I was bitten by a dog when I was seven? I still have a scar from the encounter.”
“Did you run?”
He frowned. “Touché.”
Five more seconds.
He’d run, and the dog had bitten into the side of his calf. Since then he’d never felt comfortable around large dogs.
“Just don’t move, Levi.”
The dogs were close enough now that he could see their teeth and the muscles rippling beneath their fur. Which meant despite her confidence, every muscle in his own body was still screaming at him to run.
He studied the dogs without making eye contact. They slowed their pace as they approached them, intense with each step forward, teeth bared. That couldn’t be a good sign.
“What do I do if they decide to attack?” he whispered.
“Try to put something between you and the dog.”
Like what? My arm?
“If they do happen to knock you down,” she continued, “roll into a ball and lie still, covering your head and face with your hands.”
Right.
“What if your plan doesn’t work?” he asked.
He could hear Kayla’s steady breathing next to him as she appeared to be studying the dogs’ reactions. The animals seemed confused. Like they were ready for a chase, but no one was running. Maybe she’d been right after all.
He let out a puff of air. “Kayla...”
“Zitten.”
He caught the calm authority in her voice and prayed her plan would work. Because there was going to be no second chances.
“Zitten,” she repeated.
The dogs sat.
“You told them to sit?”
“Yes.”
“So we’ve got dogs that speak Dutch,” he mumbled, still not moving a muscle.
“What did you expect them to speak?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t exactly think about language skills while imagining being strewn across the yard in pieces by this point.”
“You do have a point.”
“We need to get to the gate.” He turned slightly in order to eye the fence, but they were still at least twenty yards away. “How do you want us to do this without turning away from the dogs?”
“Start walking back slowly toward the gate.”
Her plan might have worked so far, but what was going to happen when they started moving? They couldn’t simply stand here forever. And if Nicu and his brother showed up in the meantime and gave commands to attack them, any impasse happening at the moment was going to be over.
“I’m going to start moving toward the gate,” he said.
“Okay. Just move slowly.”
He didn’t need a reminder. He started backing up, freezing for a moment when a dry branch cracked beneath his foot.
“Keep moving,” she said.
Another fifteen yards...ten...
His heart was still racing, and they were running out of time. He hadn’t come all this way to keep her safe to have them mauled by a couple of guard dogs. He took another step backward, staying parallel with Kayla as she spoke to the dogs in a soft, soothing voice. The dogs were still sitting, though he could see their muscles tensing through their thick coats. He had no idea how much time they had.
“I’m going to have to try to open the gate manually,” he said.
“No quick moves,” she said. “Just slow and steady.”
He turned slightly, continuing his earlier prayer for protection, then searched for the manual release. Finally finding it, he pulled it out, then grabbed the iron bars of the gate. They moved an inch. He let out a sharp sigh of relief.
“You need to come closer to the gate,” he said.
Kayla nodded then began moving toward him.
She continued to talk to them with each step. The dogs were following her but showed no sign of aggression. Somehow, he needed to get the two of them out of the gate while ensuring that the dogs stayed on the inside.
He opened the gate a few more inches, just enough to allow them to escape. “Go.”
She slipped through the opening in front of him. A second later, he was outside the property beside her. He quickly slid the gate back into place.
“You okay?” he asked.
She stared back at the dogs. “My heart’s racing like a jackhammer, and I’m ready for all of this to be over, but I think so.”
“I’ve obviously discovered a new talent of yours. I think I might have to start calling you the dog whisperer. You were incredible.”
She pulled her gloves out of her pockets and tugged them on. “I guess summers with my grandfather paid off.”
He hadn’t remembered that about her. Along with so many other things he wanted to know.
But not now.
Right now, they needed to get as far away from this property as possible.
Someone shouted from the house. He turned toward the commotion. Nicu was calling the dogs, who were now running toward the house. If they’d found the guard—which he was sure they had—then they knew he and Kayla had escaped and would come looking for them.
“We need to get out of here now.”
They started sprinting away from the property with no idea which direction they should be going. The dogs were barking in the background, making him grateful—not for the first time—that they were on the other side of the fence. He just hoped that they hadn’t missed anything inside the house. If Max was somewhere on the property, Levi’s gut told him Nicu wouldn’t hesitate to kill him.
But there was nothing he could do at this point. His priority had to be to get Kayla to safety. Which meant they needed to keep moving.
Levi glanced down the road. Along the front of the property ran a thick row of trees and brush, but less than a half a mile ahead of them, from what he could see from here, the terrain opened up. Which meant it would be harder to stay hidden. And while Nicu might be searching the property right now, it was only going to be a matter of time before he and his brother realized they’d managed to escape through the gate.
Grabbing Kayla’s hand, he slowed his pace slightly but kept them moving. “We need a way out of here.”
“I could call someone from work, but it would take too long for them to get here.”
“Agreed, but there doesn’t seem like a lot of traffic out here.”
Which was an understatement. In the ten minutes or so that they’d been out here, he’d noted only one passing vehicle.
“Do you have any idea where we are?” he asked, as the house where they’d been held started to disappear from sight.
“I’ve spent time cycling the countryside with a couple friends, but nothing looks familiar. Which doesn’t surprise me. Holland is covered with a network of bike routes and open terrain like this.”
Which meant all he knew to do for now was to keep moving away from the property and pray that a car would come along and take them back to the city.
A minute later, Kayla tugged on his hand. “Levi...there’s a car coming.”
He let out a sharp sigh of relief, but his relief was quickly overshadowed by a wave of alarm as Kayla headed for the road. A small sports car was driving their direction, but that wasn’t what had him apprehensive. A black vehicle had just turned onto the road behind the sports car. The black sedan Nicu had been driving.