Page 52 of Seductive Architect
“Well, what?”
Janet let out an exasperated sigh. “Are you going to offer me a beverage? A cheese plate? I could really go for sliders right now.”
I walked over to the fridge and opened the door. She followed, resting her head on my shoulder. Boundaries? What are those?
“Wow.”
She pointed at the row of water bottles. Four wide. Four deep. Each in a tidy row. She emphasized why I didn’t invite people into my house. Connie never commented onmy need for neat and orderly Tupperware. I snatched a bottle, passing it over my head.
“Okay, enough lallygagging. We need to get?—”
I shoved a hand over her mouth. “I need to show you something.” She licked my palm until I let go. Why Janet? Why couldn’t this malevolent mastermind have left me the alien or the nice guy? Hell, I’d take Arthur right about now. No. I got stuck with a woman who just licked my hand.
“You’re nasty,” I said.
I walked into the living room, standing in front of the door to the Dead Zone. It was the only place I trusted to talk. With Connie’s allegiance in question, here we could speak candidly without her eavesdropping.
I opened the door and pushed her through. On the other side, I shut the door, turning the hydraulic lock until I heard a loud hiss. The downstairs neighbors must have thought I was the nosiest man alive.
“What is this place?”
“It’s a Dead Zone. No electronic signals in or out. We are completely cut off from the digital world.”
“Why do we need to—” She spotted the wall. “Whoa.”
“Connie’s been compromised,” I blurted.
“Connie? My girl? She helped me land a date with the security guard. Did you know he has a troll collection?” Her eyebrows waggled. “I can’t wait to rub his?—”
“I’m positive.” I stood in front of the wall. “SenatorMcAfee met with Ricardo to discuss his super-soldier program. Then Hudson appears shortly after. But there’s been a plot twist. The senator is Prism.”
“The human rainbow?”
I nodded. “Hudson beat the snot out of him. I caught a glimpse of his face.”
“So, he’s behind whatever happened to Arthur?”
I shook my head. I pointed to the senator’s photo and traced the red string back to a blank sheet of paper with no image. “There’s no way he figured out how to manipulate Connie. I doubt he’d know how to mind control the office. Let’s be honest, he’s kind of an idiot, and how he won the vote is an entirely different conversation.”
“Okay, so the senator is a henchman. Does that mean Ricardo is a bad guy?” She let out a low growl. “If he hurts Arthur, I’ll?—”
“Calm down.” I believed her. They might squabble at every opportunity, but they’d go above and beyond to save the other. I didn’t understand their relationship, but I knew she’d kill for him.
Janet’s face softened for a second. “Arthur’s strong. He’ll be okay. Right?”
I didn’t have an answer to that question. Instead, I focused on the previous. “The only thing Ricardo is responsible for right now is creating a super soldier.”
“Hudson,” she said. “Your boyfriend.”
She said it to get under my skin, but after he spent the night… maybe? People said they had complicated relationships. Did they date a machine designed to kill? Or did they have the ability to read his thoughts? Next time I hear somebody say it, I’d have to resist the urge to laugh.
“Yes. Hudson. The super soldier.”
“Did Ricardo make him?”
“Maybe?”
“Huh.”
