Page 87 of The Agent
“Leland, are you seeing a horse’s head and some fields in the cam?” Leland had his side of the mic muted for Tully’s protection, so the vest vibrated on Tully’s shoulder in two short bursts, the signal for yes. “Good. Make sure it’s recording once I get onto the estate.” Another double vibration of agreement.
For the few minutes it took to get close to the estate’s perimeter, Tully allowed himself to revel in the feeling of his body and the horse’s being in perfect sync, moving through the moonlight as one swift, powerful creature. He vowed to get out riding more often.
Tully veered off the road along the pasture’s fence line, the two other horses obediently trotting along behind him. When he reached the vulnerable spot in Van Houten’s hedge, he dismounted and unhooked the lead lines from the two extra horses.
“Okay, fellows, I need you to provide a little distraction for me.” Holding firmly to Samson’s reins, he smacked one of the horses on the butt. “Now get out of here.” He flapped his arms and the horse shied away, taking off at a canter. Tully smacked the other one, who followed his buddy.
He leaped back on Samson and took him up to the hedge to show him it was there. Then he trotted back several yards and dug his heels into the horse’s flanks. “Let’s go, buddy.”
The Thoroughbred sailed over the hedge with about a foot to spare. “You are a champ,” Tully said, bending to lie almost along Samson’s neck and patting his shoulder. Exhilaration surged through him as he guided Samson through the manicured scattering of trees and shrubs at a ground-eating canter.
It took only a couple of minutes before he heard shouting. The loose horses must have been spotted, which meant he probably had been too. Hopefully, no one would shoot at one of Van Houten’s expensive Thoroughbreds.
He urged Samson into a gallop as the trees grew sparser and the mansion came into view. A voice rose from his left. “Hey, stop now! Stop or I’ll shoot!” The guard must be able to see a rider on the horse.
Tully hugged Samson’s neck more tightly and kept going, heading for an overgrown clump of rhododendrons near the side of the house.
“Stop!” Anger edged the voice, and then two gunshots sounded.
Samson shied sideways but Tully was prepared for a reaction, so he managed to stay on with an iron grip of his legs. He turned the frightened horse’s head back in the right direction when another shot rang out that he swore he could hear whistle past him. He cursed under his breath. He’d feel like hell if Samson got hurt.
But a different voice yelled, “Don’t shoot the horse, you idiot! It’s worth a fortune and the boss will take it out of your pay.”
Tully had started to smile when a hulking shape on the back lawn caught his eye.
A spasm of fear walloped him when he realized it was a helicopter. If Van Houten got in the air with Regina and Natalie, it would be almost impossible to stop him.
Tully wrenched Samson to a stop behind the bushes. While he stripped off the saddle and bridle to keep the horse from getting tangled in the tack, he spoke softly into the vest mic. “Leland, there’s a helicopter sitting on the back lawn. That moves up our timetable. Get the police chief on the phone and tell him to use local air traffic control to stop that chopper from getting off the ground.” A double vibration came in response.
Tully turned Samson toward the front of the house and smacked the horse on the rear. By this time, Samson’s inborn taste for speed had taken over his equine brain, so he shot off like a rocket. Catching him would keep the guards busy for a while.
The helicopter meant Tully had no time for stealth or subtlety. He raced to the mansion, shimmied up a few feet of sturdy copper drain spout to reach a dark first-floor window, and used the hilt of his knife to smash the leaded glass. He was surprised when no alarms went off as he unlatched the window, swung it open, and hauled himself into what turned out to be a library, with fully loaded bookcases rising up two floors. Given all the activity at the house, Van Houten must have decided not to risk setting off an alarm and drawing the police.
Another shudder of fear ran through him at the further evidence that Regina’s husband was in a rush. He needed to find Natalie before Van Houten decided he didn’t need her anymore.
Chapter 19
Natalie awakened to pain and confusion as Dobs Van Houten’s blurred face hovered over her.
“Let’s just make sure you stay awake.” He backhanded her across the face so the pain exploded again. She tasted salt and metal as blood flowed from her cheek where he’d slammed it against her teeth.
She cried out and brought her hands up to shield her face, baffled to find them stuck together so she looked more like she was praying than defending herself.
Dobs’s face disappeared. “Get her on her feet,” his voice said as she stared up at an unfamiliar ceiling with ornate plaster ornamentation.
A scary-looking man in a dark suit loomed over her and grabbed her shoulders to jerk her into a sitting position. “Stand up,” he commanded.
She tried but her knees felt like rubber and she couldn’t separate her hands for balance. She staggered and sat back down hard on the sofa she’d been lying on. “I can’t,” she whimpered, fighting the fog wrapped around her brain.
Where was she? And how did she get here?
“You! Help Vince get her moving,” Dobs said. “My wife wants to make sure this bitch is all right. Untie her hands too. Don’t want to upset Mrs. Van Houten. She’s carrying my child.” Pride oozed from his words.
Regina was here? This had to be Dobs’s house ... mansion. Why would Regina come here?
The scary man named Vince yanked at her wrists so they came apart, and she realized that they’d been tied together with the nylon rope Vince tossed on the floor. He took her elbow and jerked her to her feet, setting off a wave of nausea that she swallowed hard to quell.
“Take her other arm. I don’t want her falling down. Mrs. Van Houten might not like that,” he growled at his assistant.
