Lynch grabbed her before she could touch the robot’s still-sizzling metal surface. He pulled her away and stepped between her and the gunmen.
But one of the men stepped forward and spoke mockingly in a heavy Dutch accent. “So nice to have you back in our care, Mr. Lynch. Please put down your gun before you get hurt.” He nodded at Stevie. “Or someone else does.”
Lynch slowly placed his gun on the floor. “Gregor Dekker. I was disappointed you survived your last meeting with Archiehere. After our last session, I have a few unpleasant memories of you. Or should I say painful?”
Dekker smiled. “I was only doing my job. I was supposed to break you, but you disappointed me. So I made myself scarce until Korkil got over his irritation. I have an instinct for survival.”
“I guess so. As long as that instinct includes running away, shrieking, into the night.” Lynch looked at the other men. “Some of you were there. You heard him. Rather comical, wasn’t it?”
Dekker’s smile faded.
“You can bet they thought it was funny,” Lynch said. “I’m sure they’ve laughed about it together many times in the days since.”
“Maybe I’ll be the one laughing when you’re doing the shrieking, Mr. Lynch.” Dekker nodded toward his men, and the one with the electric leads cut the power by releasing the trigger of his modified stun rifle. The other men surrounded Archie, picked him up, and started carrying him back through the open panel behind them.
Stevie instantly stepped out from behind Lynch. “What are you going to do to him? Where are you taking him?”
“We have a great many plans for your creation, Ms. Nolan. You’ve created something quite impressive, but I don’t think even you are aware of its true potential.”
“The hell I’m not!” Stevie was trying to lunge at him but Lynch held her back. “I understand everything about him. What plans?”
“You’ll find out very soon. We were disappointed not to find you—or it—at your lab, but we did find all the information we need to make Archie ours.”
“He’ll never be yours.”
Her father, still bound, sat up and tried to quiet her. “Stevie, honey, please . . .”
Dekker didn’t seem to be the slightest bit perturbed by her obvious anger. If anything, he was amused. “It wasn’t easy. Our techs have been working on it twenty-four seven. If it makes you feel any better, the process has given us even more respect for what you’ve accomplished, Ms. Nolan. You’re truly one of your generation’s shining lights.”
Lynch was taking this moment of distraction to look through the hidden door behind Dekker. It seemed to lead to a short passageway, and then to an exit that led to an opening to the hillside, probably obscured by vines and bushes. He could feel the cool night air as it wafted in. He cast a quick glance back over his shoulder. Where in the hell were Kendra and Jessie? Had they been discovered? Probably not. Dekker surely would’ve been gloating about it by now.
“We’ve been waiting for you,” Dekker said to Stevie. “Vlad knew you wouldn’t leave the country without your father, especially since Archie had already proved so adept at helping you rescue Mr. Lynch. I begged to differ with him. I thought you’d be on the first plane out of here and let the authorities track down your father. But Vlad was right, of course. He usually is on things of this nature. He knew you’d walk right into our trap.”
“I’m not helping you,” Stevie said fiercely. “Whatever you want from me, you’re out of luck.”
Dekker laughed out loud. “Haven’t I made that clear? We don’t need you. We have everything we need.” Dekker cocked his head to listen. A helicopter roared in the distance. “Ah, my ride is here.” He smiled at Stevie. “My ride . . . and Archie’s.”
Kendra and Jessie heard the sound of the helicopter from where they were stretched out on their stomachs on a nearby hillside, watching the activity buzzing around both bunker entrances. Kendra was swearing under her breath. “We should be in there,” she whispered.
Jessie shook her head. “Then we’d be no better off than Lynch and Stevie. We did the right thing to move out when we saw what was happening. We’ve got a chance to help them now.”
Kendra looked up; the helicopter rotors were growing louder. “It’s coming in for a landing. It’ll touch down in less than a minute. Do we have a plan?”
“Still working on it.”
That wasn’t what Kendra wanted to hear. But she could see that Jessie was still counting how many gunmen were moving around the scene. The two of them had been lucky to get away from the bunker without being spotted, but it was driving Kendra crazy not to know what was happening inside.
The helicopter was landing in the clearing just yards from the bunker’s rear entrance.
Jessie raised the assault rifle Lynch had given her. “We can’t let them put Lynch and Stevie on that copter. If they try, I’m taking out the pilot first. If you can get a clean shot, target whoever is closest to them.”
Kendra pulled out the handgun she had holstered under her jacket. “Got it.”
They watched as a group of men carried out someone who appeared to be unconscious . . . or worse.
“Who is that?” Jessie asked. She took aim at the pilot.
“It’s Archie!” Kendra said. “He’s been disabled.”
