The memory still made him smile.
She’d sat on the patio stones and pulled out all kinds of mechanical things.
For the next two hours, he’d watched her build a robot that looked like a dinosaur. The dinosaur danced and moved. The movements had been a bit jerky, but it had been fascinating.
Tansy had sighed. Her whisper had barely reached him, but it had burned into his soul. “I’ll fix it Mom, I’ll make it work. I promise.”
Then, she’d systematically taken it apart, packed the pieces back into the briefcase and gone inside.
Over the next few months, he waited in the yard and watched her work to perfect that dinosaur. And the next and the next. They all moved in unique ways, ways he didn’t understand.
Once she had a few working, she had them collaborate to do tasks. Pick things off the ground. Sweep. Fold towels.
Things aimed to make life easier for others.
Now, she was a scientist with multiple patents in her name. Including the ones for the solar-powered TeenySaur toy line she’d created at sixteen. Based on the robots he’d watched her build.
While so many other toys focused on battles and destruction, the TeenySaurs worked cooperatively to build and create.
By the time Tansy had been ready to sell her idea, Sam had been at college, setting his eyes on the FBI.
Lee Rivera, Nico’s mom and a lawyer, had helped Tansy with the process. More than a decade later, Tansy had royalties coming in and a healthy bank account thanks to her first patent.
The GPS signaled again, and Sam took the next exit.
Joe’s instructions had shown two ways into the property. One through a nearby town and one through the back roads.
Sam chose the latter. The fewer people he needed to encounter, the better.
A few minutes later, the GPS pinged, but he didn’t need it to know he’d arrived.
An old wooden fence ran the length of the property for a mile or so before he arrived at a driveway, locked off with a gate.
Joe had made a copy of the key and sent it to him, hoping Sam would check on Tansy. She’d been here for a couple of months, mostly alone.
Tansy was always one for retreating from the world rather than fighting. She didn’t like conflict and her introverted nature meant she didn’t need to be surrounded by friends.
Sam locked the gate behind him and drove along the dirt road through the treed area.
A huge barn stood back from the road. A faded and drooping sign read Phail Sawmill. Some joker had painted over thePhwith anF. Fail Sawmill.
There were five other smaller outbuildings on this part of the property, but Sam didn’t find Tansy’s car until he drove behind the barn.
Hidden from the road. Not inviting questions or visitors. Smart girl.
The electric charging station shouldn’t have surprised him, but among the dilapidated buildings, it did. And made him smile. It had probably been the first thing she’d added. Her car’s charger had a timer attached to the station. Sam plugged his car into the second station and decided he’d need a timer as well. No sense in wasting the electricity once the charge was complete.
Knowing she would have heard him approach if she’d been in this area, Sam locked up his car, shouldered his duffle and headed off on the trail Joe had described.
The old fishing lodge was about two miles in. At least the weather wasn’t bad. No howling wind or blowing snow. Plenty of sunshine melting what was left on the ground.
Being pre-warned, he wore his hiking boots.
By the time he broke through the trees to see the lodge, Sam was wishing he’d remembered his water bottle. Even in March, a hike like this was enough to bring on the sweat. He’d shed his outer jacket and looped it through the duffle.
How was Tansy getting her supplies and food to the lodge area? Knowing her, she had a plan.
The lodge itself was bigger than Sam expected. Three stories tall and wide. Had to hold at least a dozen bedrooms on those upper floors.