“As far as I can tell. You can never be certain, doing this kind of estimating.” She smiled. “Perhaps I should have brought you in to help me look them over. I’ve noticed you’re pretty much an expert yourself. Your work with Archie is really amazing.” She chuckled. “How about it? Want another job tracking down those slimy bastards?”
“No,” Stevie said sharply. “Don’t even think about it. It would be my worst nightmare.”
Kendra’s smile faded as she gazed at Stevie’s tense, pale face. There was clearly something serious disturbing her. “I wasn’t serious,” she said gently. “Not a good joke?” She pushed the maps aside. “I think we should have that talk. I want to hear what the problem is. We all know you’re an intelligent person and there’s nothing you can’t solve. Suppose you just let me help you do it.”
Stevie moistened her lips. “But that’s not what’s best for me to do. I’ve been trained to figure things out for myself. I know that, and I just have to find a way to get around it. Like you said, I have the intelligence, and I have to use it.”
Kendra thought she could see where this was going. “You said something like that once about your father. What is it that you have to ‘get around,’ Stevie?”
She hesitated again, then drew a deep breath and said in a rush, “Lynch said I have the most to lose so he sort of put me in charge. But I can’t fail him and the rest of you. I can’t do that.My dad says I have a duty because I was given a special gift and I can’t be a failure.”
“No one is less a failure than you, Stevie.” Kendra paused. “And I’m beginning to get a little annoyed with your papa. Tell me about him.”
“I’ve told you. He’s brilliant and hardworking and honest. He takes good care of me and is very proud when I do well.” She moved toward a cabinet against the wall. Opening a drawer, she pulled out a framed photo and handed it to Kendra. “It’s important that you’ll be able to recognize him at a glance since I hope that we’ll be seeing him very soon.”
“That’s what we all hope, Stevie,” Kendra said as she glanced down at the photo of a gray-haired, bearded man in his forties or fifties who was fairly good looking and closely resembled Stevie. “He looks quite distinguished.”
She nodded eagerly. “All the women physicians in his office think so, too, but that doesn’t matter to him. He says that the only thing that’s important is that he’s very well respected in his field.” She added, “He said that should be the only thing important to either of us.”
“I imagine he did,” Kendra said dryly. “But that doesn’t mean he’s necessarily correct.”
“Do you think I don’t know that?” Stevie said with sudden impatience. “I want to believe everything my father tells me because I’m afraid of losing him. But I read, I think, I watch, I can see that he’s not perfect. No one is perfect, we just have to keep on working toward it. In the meantime, we take what we need from each other and hope it’s enough for both of us until we get to perfect.”
Kendra was taken aback. These were neither the words nor the philosophy of a teenager. “That’s not the direction I thought you were going to take. What are you trying to say?”
“I want to know if you believe I’m smart enough to make those decisions Lynch said are up to me? I know I have the most to lose, but that’s not the only thing to consider. I’d probably score much higher than Lynch on any test you can name, but he has experience and instincts and endurance. He was shot and tortured and could have died to save me. He’s still trying to save my dad.” She met Kendra’s eyes. “And what about you? You followed Lynch here and ran all kinds of risks to save him.” She made a face. “Which actually meant savingme. You’re very experienced and intelligent, too. Why shouldn’t you make the decisions?”
“Don’t try to put me in a corner,” Kendra said sternly. “Lynch was sent to do this assignment, and as you say, he has the experience for the job.”
“Anything else?”
“I’ve worked with him before and he’s never failed me.”
“What else?”
“I trust him.”
“So do I.” Stevie was silent a moment. “Should I go to him and tell him that all of this is in his hands now?”
“No. That’s not necessary.” Kendra smiled. “You’ve forgotten that you’re not alone in this. Perhaps one of the things you haven’t learned yet is that a man like Lynch will always grab the initiative and run with it when the opportunity presents itself no matter what he intends or says. That goes with that experience I mentioned. All you have to do is stand by and wait for it to happen.” She paused. “Or turn your back and walk away from him. I don’t think you’re going to do that, are you?”
“No.”
“Then your first decision is made. I’m ready for that cup of tea now.”
Stevie shook her head. “Sorry. I don’t have time. That was just a delaying tactic. I have to go back and finish preparing Archie for the trip. Thank you for listening to me.” She was already heading for the door. “You gave me exactly the right advice.”
“How do you know?”
Stevie grinned back at her. “Because it was just what I was thinking. It was bound to be right.”
The door shut behind her.
Kendra found herself shaking her head as she gazed after her, but she couldn’t stop her lips from twitching with amusement. Stevie was definitely one of a kind in all categories. That glimpse of charm and youthful enthusiasm Kendra had seen on her first arrival was clearly only a tiny part of Stevie Nolan. The crisp incisiveness and wisdom she’d just witnessed were probably the dominant traits.
But there was no question the next heart-to-heart discussion they had together would have to involve the value of diplomacy . . .
But she felt her smile fade as she remembered that entire conversation. There had been nuggets of wisdom in those words Stevie had spoken . . .
