Chapter 11 #3
“Maybe Lynch is right,” Kendra said. “He might just take some getting used to.” She stepped toward Archie. “Is that your primary function? To be helpful?”
“Of course. I try to do whatever is needed or required of me.”
“Do you know who I am?”
“Yes. You’re Kendra Michaels.”
“How do you know that? Did Stevie and Lynch tell you about me?”
“They mentioned your name, but I confirmed your identity from scanning your face and running it through a facial recognition application.”
“Off the shelf,” Stevie said. “No big deal.”
Archie continued, “I can give you a biographical rundown, from your childhood education at Woodward Academy to your college education and news reports of gaining your sight at the age of twenty. I’m familiar with your PhD thesis and your involvement in helping solve several high-profile criminal investigations. ”
“All this from one glance at me?”
“And an examination of information from several public databases.”
“I guess this took, what, half a second?”
“Actually, my wireless data node is somewhat slower in this remote location. It took about nine seconds to gather all this information.”
Stevie stepped closer. “Archie is usually equipped with a satellite modem, but I disabled it. I was afraid it might make it easier for certain interested parties to track our whereabouts.”
“Do me, Archie,” Jessie challenged.
Archie turned toward her in a movement that was incredibly lifelike and graceful. “I know that you were a decorated soldier in Afghanistan, Jessie Mercado, and that you were a prizewinning contestant on the American Ninja television game show. I just viewed several clips from YouTube.”
Jessie groaned and buried her face in her hands. “Oh, great. I don’t suppose you have any way of reaching back out to YouTube and deleting those.”
“Sorry, that is beyond my capabilities. But I can provide you with the names of several individuals in the hacker community who might be able to perform tasks such as this.”
“Absolutely not. I’m just joking.”
“I see. In any case, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. That show helped you get the job working security for music star Delilah Winter, and you quickly became the head of her security detail. Since then, you’ve been the owner of Jessie Mercado Investigations in Santa Monica, California, USA.”
Jessie turned to Kendra. “Somehow, I’m not feeling any more at ease with this.”
Kendra nodded. “It’s unsettling when ChatGPT does things like this on my laptop, but for some reason, it’s a bit more disturbing coming from you, Archie.”
“I understand. I believe that’s why my creator didn’t attempt to make me look more human. The more that machines such as me resemble human beings, the more common are feelings of unease.”
“Catch!” Lynch shouted as he tossed a coffee mug toward Archie.
The robot’s left arm shot up and caught the mug.
“And this one!” Lynch tossed a plate toward Kendra’s head.
Before she could react, Archie reached in front of her and caught the plate between his right metallic thumb and forefinger.
“Hey!” Kendra spun around to face Lynch. “That’s how you choose to demonstrate Archie’s reflexes? By hurling a dinner plate at my skull? You’re a lucky, lucky man.”
“Luck had nothing to do with it,” Lynch said. “Archie’s accuracy is about a hundred times out of a hundred. He hasn’t missed yet.”
“He missed a lot after I first created him,” Stevie said. “I made some adjustments, but the most significant improvements came from Archie himself. I created a heuristic algorithm, meaning he’s constantly learning and incorporating those things into everything he says and does.”
Archie nodded and casually placed the cup and plate on a nearby countertop.
Kendra shook her head. “I have a feeling Archie has plenty of surprises in store for us.”
Stevie turned back to adjust Archie’s arm joints. “Well, he surprises me every day, and I built him.”
Kendra watched Stevie working on her creation with the enthusiasm of a teenage boy tuning up his car.
She smothered the incredulity she was feeling and then turned back to Lynch.
“Of course we need to find Stevie’s father.
And if that helps us nail Korkil at the same time, even better.
” She looked from Lynch to Stevie to Archie. “So what’s the plan?”
Lynch smiled. “I’m thinking about it. As I said, that’s next on the agenda.”
She shook her head impatiently. “That’s not good enough for me.
I didn’t come here and put up with all that bull crap we’ve gone through to have you pat me on the head until you’ve had a chance to concoct one of your intricate master plans.
” She turned to Stevie. “This is your house, and everything appears to revolve around you and Archie. Including the fate of your father. This seems to be a sizable place. Can you manage to put Jessie and me up here until we can come up with a plan to help you? Lynch seems to be having a problem with it.”
Stevie frowned. “Of course. No problem. My dad built this house thinking it would be easier to have teachers and therapists come to me when I needed them rather than send me away to school.”
“It belongs to a shell company of her father’s,” Lynch said.
“It can’t be traced to him, though it was common knowledge he had a second home somewhere in this part of the country.
That’s what brought me, Cambry, and Korkil’s goons circling around here.
I have to say, though, when I set all this in motion, I didn’t realize they would be quite so hot on our trail.
I thought you would be safer here than back home, where they would know exactly where to find you if they wanted to leverage your relationship with me. ”
Stevie motioned toward a set of stairs. “Anyway, there are always several empty bedrooms available to accommodate visitors.” She motioned toward Lynch.
“He’s been occupying one of them on the first level since we brought him down from the hills.
I’ll have Archie make up rooms for you and your friend. ”
“Archie is also a housekeeper?” Kendra asked. She shook her head again. “Why does that not surprise me?”
“A housekeeper is surprisingly required to make many complicated decisions,” Stevie said solemnly. “It’s excellent training that might apply to other duties. Archie found it rather interesting.”
“And so did I.” Lynch grinned. “But for me it was more amusing than interesting. Let’s just say that Archie is very meticulous about everything Stevie sets him to do. I could tell you stories . . .”
“Please don’t.” Kendra turned back to Stevie. “Will you have Archie grab a first-aid kit and bring it to the room you assigned to Lynch?”
Then she took Lynch’s arm and pulled him to his feet. “But first have him take Jessie to the room you’re going to give to her and make her comfortable. Lynch is going to be kind enough to take me to his room so I can take a look at that wound in his side and possibly treat it.”
Lynch stopped smiling. “I am?”
“You are.” She looked up at him. “You had your way and you kept your promise. Now I’m going to have my way with you.”
Stevie looked troubled. “Is something wrong?”
Kendra shook her head. “Not as far as I’m concerned.” She met Lynch’s eyes. “What about you?”
His gaze was narrowed on her face, deep and enigmatic; for once she couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
Then a sudden impish expression lit his face and he took her arm.
“There’s no way I’d refuse an invitation like that from you.
Allow me to escort you.” He was leading her out of the sunroom area and down the hall.
“My room is just a few doors off the living room. I chose it because I thought it best I be near Stevie and her father and easier to maintain security.”
“Kendra?” Jessie was staring inquiringly at her across the room.
Kendra shook her head. “It’s okay. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Whatever you say . . .”
A moment later Lynch was closing the bedroom door behind them.
“There we are.” He pulled her farther into the room.
“Did you notice how I withstood all of Jessie’s protective instincts to give you what you wanted?
” He backed away from her and started to unbutton his shirt.
“I admit I was a little confused about what exactly that was. But then I sat there looking at you and remembered the anger and indignation about how I hadn’t respected our relationship enough to treat you as you thought you should be treated.
You wanted to see the wound. It was your right both as a partner and the woman I’ve taken to bed for how many times during the last years?
Did you regard it as some kind of rite of passage?
” He was stripped to the waist now, and she couldn’t take her eyes off him.
Lean and powerful, yet so sleekly masculine and sexual it made the need to go to him almost irrepressible.
Because she knew exactly what could be waiting for her if she did.
Almost.
“You flatter yourself.” She had to clear her throat and was searching for something to say that would distract her from what she had been thinking when she was finally able to speak.
“It wasn’t all about me. You were hurt and bleeding.
I might have been responsible. You had no right to keep me from helping you.
You wouldn’t even let me look at the damn thing. ”
“Then come over here and play Florence Nightingale,” he said mockingly. “I’m at your disposal.”
When she didn’t move, his voice lowered to wheedling softness. “Come here, Kendra. Don’t you want to save me from myself?”
“Why should I?” Then she couldn’t stand it any longer but was striding over to where he was standing.
She carefully removed the bandage and placed it on the end table.
Slowly, with the utmost care, she examined the tissue surrounding the bullet wound on his arm and the lesser one that had opened on his back.
She looked up to see his gaze on her face.
“I told you it was nothing,” he said quietly. “I’ve had a lot worse.”