chapter two

Devon walked into the garage, followed by Lauren Phillips. Bonnie's eyes narrowed as she turned back to the bank of computers. She didn't like the red-haired woman, and it had nothing to do with how pretty the girl was for once. In all honestly, Michael hadn't even flirted with her since the neurolink had been activated. It was more than what they expected to happen. Sometimes it bothered Bonnie, just how far they could drift from her, but they never did it very often.

"This is your new assignment." Devon handed Michael a folder. The FLAG driver was perched on Kitt's hood, the engine thrumming in contentment underneath him. He smiled as he rested one hand on the hood as he looked over the file. He glanced up at Devon.

"A missing persons case?" he asked.

"The cops have had no luck. They want us to have a shot at it." He motioned to the folder. "That little girl has been missing for four weeks."

Michael flinched. "Devon, you do realize if I find this girl, it's going to be in a shallow grave at this point." he pointed out. "I hate cases like this."

"There's good reason to believe the girl's still alive." Devon assured him. "They think her father took her, but the man is a convict and unstable. He was arrested for beating his wife. When she divorced him, he demanded visitation rights. She refused, and five weeks later the girl was taken from her home." He shook her head. "Regardless why he took her, we still have to find her."

/Bonnie uploaded all the information on the case into my mainframe./ Kitt told him gently. /But, Michael, I don't think our idea is going to work./

/Why not?/ Michael wondered.

/She'll be with us for how long? Sooner or later, we'll slip up, or she'll find it out on her own./

Kitt had a point. Michael sighed. "All right." He glanced at Lauren. "You've been awfully quiet."

"I'm wondering when you're partner is going to arrive." she said sheepishly. "Or were we going to meet him somewhere else and brief him on the way?"

/She's observant./ Michael muttered darkly. "My partner is already here." he said, handing the folder back to Devon and leaning on the hood. "Kitt, say hello to Lauren."

"Hello, Miss Phillips." Kitt said blandly. Lauren's eyes widened as the color drained from her face. Bonnie had to cough to cover up her laugh.

Michael's eyes glittered with amusement. "What? You've never heard of a talking car? He's a smart-aleck, too, if you wanted to know."

"What is it?" Lauren hesitantly walked up to the Trans-Am, trailing her fingers across the paint job. Michael could feel Kitt's revulsion race down his spine. He wasn't too pleased with her himself, but for a different reason. "I mean, it sounds human enough, but it's a car. Right?" She looked over at Bonnie, but it was Michael who answered.

"He is an AI." he said sharply. "He's also my friend and my partner, and I'd appreciate it if you'd show him at least a little bit of respect."

Lauren blinked slowly. "I'm sorry, Mr. Knight." she murmured, pulling away from the car.

/Bonnie has a 'my hero' look on her face./ Kitt informed him, his words shaking with barely concealed laughter. Michael couldn't hide a smirk.

/She's just glad I said what she wanted to./ he chuckled. "Well, come on Loren. Let's get going before this guy gets too much of a head start on us." He slid off the hood and walked over to the driver's side. Kitt opened the door for him and he sat down. Lauren nodded enthusiastically and practically bounced over to the passenger's side. She hesitated a moment, then attempted to open the door.

"Um, Mr. Knight? It's locked." she said hesitantly.

Michael rolled his eyes. "I told you Kitt has a sense of humor." he said. "Come on, pal, open the door."

"Why?" Kitt demanded. "She insulted me."

Michael reached out and pressed his hand against the dash. /It's all right, Kitt. The sooner we get this done, the sooner she's out of our hair./ "Please?"

"Oh, all right." Kitt unlocked the door. Lauren climbed inside. /Thank you./

/For what?/ Kitt gave him a mental image of what usually happened whenever a pretty tail walked by. Michael grimaced. /I think I should be apologizing, not you thanking me./

/There's no need./ Kitt assured him. /I'm just glad it's not happening again. I don't trust her./

/Me neither, pal./ He waited until Kitt activated the passive laser restraint system before backing out of the garage. No – as attractive as Lauren was, the past few months had taught him to be cautious. He had lost Kitt once. He had been through the agony of thinking there was nothing he could do, that Kitt was already gone. He could not do it again, and he would not put Kitt through that again.

As soon as Michael, Kitt, and Lauren were gone, Devon turned to Bonnie. "I want you to run a full background check on Lauren Phillips." he instructed. "I want to know everything there is to know about her, from the time she was born until she found out about the Foundation."

Bonnie nodded. "You got it."