Episode Four of the Laura Kraft, Android Hunter Short Story Series
This Time, Friendship Is the Ultimate Betrayal
A disabled female PI searches for a kidnapped luvbot with a secret that powerful forces want shut down — permanently!
Disabled PI Laura Kraft is back on the case, helping out her old friend, Evelyn LeGrand. She’s on the trail of Evelyn’s missing luvbot that entertained a government investigator the night before. When the investigator turns up dead from radiation poisoning, Laura is led into a trap where friendship is just another word for double-cross. It’s a good thing her new best friend is an android packing heat.
The Android Who Stayed Single is the compelling fourth entry in the exciting Science Fiction Mystery Short Story Series, Laura Kraft, Android Hunter. In the tradition of Philip K. Dick, this thought-provoking series by Redginald Abercrombie combines the mystery of Blade Runner and Minority Report with the humor of Lethal Weapon and Die Hard.
Download your copy of this arresting near-future short story today.
The Android Who Stayed Single is available at Amazon Kindle. <link to Amazon product page>
Read an exciting excerpt below.
I hoofed across the lobby to the restaurant. I pushed my way through the crowd waiting to be seated and found the hostess. “I’m late,” I told her. “My party is seated.”
She nodded me through. I brought Quincy’s photo up on my comm screen and studied it again. I made my way to the bar entrance, trying not to trip the scurrying waitstaff with my canes. I scanned the floor several times looking over perhaps a hundred diners. Finally, I saw Quincy sitting alone—where else?—just outside the kitchen. Based on her photo, she had lost weight, but instead of making her look healthier, she seemed gaunt and pale.
I stood opposite her mindful of the staff banging through the kitchen’s swinging doors.
“Helena Quincy?” I asked.
“That’s me,” she said jovially, her attention centered on carving into eight ounces of prime rib.
“I know I’m interrupting but I’m wondering if I could talk to you for a few minutes.”
“And you are?” Quincy set down her fork and knife.
“Laura Kraft.” I pointed to the chair in front of me. “May I?”
“Sure, sit.” She winced and patted her chest lightly. “Something not right about the salad.”
“We have something in common,” I said. “We’re both investigators.”
She went back to cutting up her steak. “We’re not going to talk shop, are we? I just got out of a four-hour symposium on medical waste disposal.” She dropped her fork and pointed a crooked finger at her temple as if holding a handgun. “Shoot me now.”
“We have another thing in common. We both visited Evie’s Little Hideaway recently.”
The woman coughed and placed a hand on her chest. “You don’t say? Is this going to be a pleasant conversation?”
“I need some information. I won’t take long.”
Quincy coughed again. “I don’t believe this. I’m feeling woozy.” She covered her mouth with her napkin. “You were saying?”
“Clint, the luvbot that, um, entertained you last night has disappeared.”
Helena rolled her eyes and lowered the napkin. “And what? You think I hid him in my room?”
“No, of course not,” I answered. “I’m wondering if you saw anyone or anything unusual or out of place while you were there or when you left?”
She shook her head. “Not that I recall. It was dark and I was in a hurry. I wasn’t looking at—” She stopped and groaned. “I’ve never had worse heartburn.” Her face blotched pink and white. “What did you say your name was again?”
“Laura Kraft.”
“I have something for you, I think.” She leaned over to retrieve her purse from the floor. When she righted herself, drops of blood coursed from her nostrils and fell into her open purse. “It’s here somewhere.”
“You’re bleeding,” I said dumbly.
She pulled a sheet of folded paper from her purse and tossed it onto the table. She wiped her nose and mouth on the white napkin. Red seeped through the cloth.
Quincy gazed at the napkin. “In my line of work, bleeding is bad news.” She gasped and choked and coughed into the napkin. Blood dripped from her hand. She looked at me, incredulous. “I’ve been poisoned.”
She tried to stand, supporting herself with her arms on the table, but her knees buckled, her elbows gave way and she toppled sideways onto the floor.
I rose to my feet as quickly as I could and stood over her. A busboy came up beside me. “What’s the matter?”
I turned on him. “Call 911. Tell them massive internal hemorrhaging. If they’re not here in five minutes, she’s dead.” I pushed his shoulder. “Go. Now!”
A crowd closed in on us, phone cameras in hand.
“Stay back,” I shouted. “Blood-borne pathogens. Do not come any closer. Wait for the EMTs.”
I looked away from the dying woman. My eyes came to rest on the blood-spattered note she tried to hand me. I summoned all my will power to keep from ripping it to shreds.
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