The Mechanical Menace (The Bulletproof Adventures of Damian Stockwell Book 3) by Benjamin Wallace

Author:Benjamin Wallace [Wallace, Benjamin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-07-28T04:00:00+00:00

11

Locked Away

The Bertron answered the door without his face. The mechanical eyes whirred and scanned Bertrand beyond the shopping bags for only a moment before letting him in.

Bertrand handed the machine the bags and watched as it dutifully took them to the kitchen and began to put the contents away. The valet moved up the staircase towards Stockwell’s second-floor parlor and found it empty. His friend and employer normally took breakfast in this room. Nothing had been normal since London.

The world’s greatest adventurer had not been seen in several days. Bertrand had been turned away at the door several times by that damned machine. It wasn’t until that morning that he had finally received a call and was allowed into the home.

It wasn’t unusual for Damian to disappear into his lab, but after the encounter with his doppelganger, his friend had been more shaken than Bertrand had ever seen him.

The man’s composure and resiliency was legendary, and even under the most stressful situations it was hard to detect the shaken nerves of the great man. But Bertrand knew him better than almost anyone, and he could spot the signs of his flustered nature. Damian had been testy, to say the least. Every little thing had bothered him on the flight home. He yelled at Bertrand several times without seeking forgiveness. He yelled at the weather and the gauges on the plane. And when he wasn’t snapping at someone or something, he was completely silent. He offered nothing, not even manners, to those they encountered.

Stockwell watched everyone with a wary eye. He was a master at observing without calling attention to himself, but now he did not even try to hide his suspicions. He wanted everyone to know they were being watched and scrutinized. Even Bertrand fell under the suspicious gaze.

Coming face to face with, and then being forced to electrocute, himself had been jarring to say the least. Once they landed, Stockwell ordered the inoperable machine to his lab and told Bertrand to give him space to think. Those were the last words he’d heard from his friend and employer until the call came this morning.

Bertrand dropped the morning paper on the small café table by the parlor window and stepped back into the hallway. He crossed the hallway to the lab and knocked on the door.

The only response was a brisk and cold, “Enter.”

Bertrand turned the knob and slowly opened the door.

The lab was a mess. Not untidy, but unorganized. Strewn with wires and cables, the room appeared set upon by a mechanical spider. Dials and meters pinged and beeped from every direction. Machines of all kinds were wired together and stacked on top of one another. The whole room hummed. Bertrand had never seen it like this.

“Come in, Bertrand.” Stockwell’s voice could be measured against the mechanical pulse of the room.

“Monsieur? Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine, Bertrand.” Stockwell finished the statement with a long glance.

“I waz worried about you after what ’appened in London.”

“I’ll be honest with you, my friend.

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