Chapter Three

They arrived in Malibu Monday morning, stopping at a hotel to freshen up. By the time that was done, it was already afternoon by the time they got in the truck. The Duttons pulled up in front of the tall skyscraper and parked.

Lee whistled. "Little sis sure is doing well for herself."

"Well?" Jamie snorted. "I don't know if you heard on the news report Saturday, but she is worth 80 billion dollars, with her company at 200 billion. She has indeed done 'well' for herself."

The others exchanged slightly startled glances, none of them had remembered that particular detail on the news. She has done beyond well for herself.

John felt pride well up in him at her achievement and also sorrow that he wasn't around to offer any support or encouragement, nor watch her blossom into a savvy business woman.

"Well, shall we?" Kayce asked, striding forward and entering. They all paused and looked around at the sleek interior, waiting in line to speak to a secretary.

"How may I help you?" She asked.

"Hello there, darling," Lee drawled, a faint blush appearing on her face at his accent. "We are here to see Kiera Stark."

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No, we don't." Rip stated.

"Well, I'm sorry. No appointment, no meeting. I can schedule an appointment for you to meet sometime in the future, if you would like."

"Can you just please call up to her and ask her if she can squeeze us in? This is really important." Lee asked.

"I-I'm sorry but Miss Stark is very busy. She won't have time to squeeze you in." The secretary said.

"Well, can you check? If she is too busy after you call up, we'll leave. Promise." Jamie said. He could sense that his brothers and father were beginning to get a little irritated. They weren't used to this type of treatment, they were used to no one getting in the Dutton way. Jamie had went to Law School, however, and so had gotten used to the Dutton name not meaning much to those outside of Montana.

She sighed and thought before shrugging to herself a little. She picked up the phone, dialing, listening to the ring tone.

"Hey, Leah, it's Beth. Is Miss Stark available for a last minute meeting today?"

"Okay, thank you." She hung up the phone and began writing something down on a sticky note, handing it to Lee.

"Miss Stark is in the lab this afternoon but Leah said that if you go up now, she'll go grab her for you."

"Thank you very much, Beth, you're an angel."

Beth blushed again. "Those elevators over there will take you up. I wrote the floor number down for you, ask for Leah. She'll lead you to where you need to go. And take these visitor badges. You won't get far without them."

"Thank you, darling." Lee tipped his hat at her and turned to follow the others as they moved towards the elevator, clipping the badges on.

They were finally able to get on an elevator, people getting off and on each time, nothing staying idle for long. They passed two security guards that were standing by the elevators that almost stopped them until they saw the visitor badge and let them pass.

They got on and Lee pushed the button for the top floor.

"Are y'all ready for this?" Rip asked, his gruff voice breaking the silence that had settled between them all.

"Ready as I'll ever be." John responded. All of them were going through a mix of emotions and in their thoughts when the elevator came to smooth stop.

"86th floor." A robotic voice sounded as the doors slid open.

"Here we go." Kayce muttered. They were greeted to a nice lobby. One side of the area was carpet while the other was a white tile, floor to ceiling windows. In from of the windows were sets of chairs and a reception desk that four women were sat at. Halls led further into the building but you couldn't go down those without passing the four women.

"Excuse me? Beth sent us up, told us to ask for Leah?" Jamie said.

One of them looked up with an eyebrow raised. Even on this floor it was a little busy with employees walking back and forth doing their duties.

She pointed at a long hallway that was on the other side of her. "Take this hallway straight back. Leah will be at her desk." She turned her attention to a phone that had just started to ring. Jamie led the way down the hall. They barely reached halfway when their view was filled with the bright simplicity of the area. Two women sat a white long desk with a large white wall behind them while along the sides were the same floor to ceiling windows. Along the sides of the white wall, they could make out an office and conference room being there. Their hearts began to pound.

One of the women looked up with a smile. "Hello, you must be who Beth was calling about. I haven't been able to go get Miss Stark yet but I'm sure she won't mind us venturing down to get her. Ellie, do you think you'll be okay by yourself for a few minutes?"

"Of course, go on." Beth stood and led them into another hallway that led to another elevator. "Come on, don't be shy! We're just taking a trip down to visit her in the lab." She said as they hesitated but ultimately got on. They noticed that there wasn't any numbers on the elevator.

"What the h*ll?" Rip muttered, exchanging glances.

"Miss Chase, may I ask why you would like access to Miss Stark at this time?" A female monotone voice came, startling the men.

"These men are here to speak to her, FRIDAY. She is free today of all meetings, she can take one last minute."

"I will let you proceed in the elevator, but I will be alerting Miss Stark of this." The elevator began moving down.

"What was that?" John asked.

"That was FRIDAY, an Artificial Intelligence or AI, that Miss Stark created to help run the company more efficiently and to protect Stark Tech from inside and outside threats. I believe the other two branches have an AI as well."

With a ding, the doors opened to frost glass walls, making it impossible for those exiting the elevator to be able to see into the lab. Loud music could be heard faintly through the glass doors.

"FRIDAY? Is Miss Stark aware that we are here?"

"She is now." FRIDAY said.

Here they go.