Chapter 527

Ding-dong.

Just as everyone was preparing to go their separate ways, with Tony planning to suit up and fly to Tennessee to investigate the Rose Hill explosion, the doorbell rang.

Tony’s expression soured.

"Seriously? Who’s knocking now? I specifically told JARVIS to keep the place on high alert. I just threatened a terrorist on live television. Who the hell comes knocking after that?"

JARVIS, as usual, had an answer ready.

"I can only point out, sir, that you were the one who publicly announced your home address to the entire world."

Tony stared at the ceiling.

"Right. Thanks."

In other words: if you’d been smart enough not to publish your address, I wouldn’t have to deal with this.

Tony sighed and headed toward the entrance to deal with his unexpected visitor.

Then he stopped.

With a flick of his hand, the Iron Man armor closed around him again.

He had no idea who was on the other side. It could be an overeager reporter.

Or an assassin sent by the Mandarin.

Tony might loudly insist that he wasn’t afraid of the Mandarin, but he wasn’t stupid enough to answer the door wearing nothing but ordinary human skin when an explosion-obsessed terrorist had already threatened him.

The door opened.

The visitor didn’t exactly look like a murderous psychopath.

She was a Caucasian woman in her early thirties, with long brown hair falling over her shoulders. Attractive, certainly, but more importantly, she looked completely unarmed.

She stepped inside with a trace of curiosity.

A blue scanning beam swept over her from head to toe.

Before she could react, Tony appeared in front of her wearing the Iron Man armor.

"Stand still."

The woman raised an eyebrow and gave him an odd look.

"You’re not with the Mandarin, are you?"

JARVIS had already transmitted the results of his scan. No weapons. No suspicious devices. Nothing that looked remotely like a bomb.

Tony opened his helmet.

His expression remained stern, almost painfully serious.

His eyes, however, betrayed a tiny flicker of uncertainty.

The woman stared at his uncovered face, then gave him an awkward smile.

"You don’t remember me, do you?"

Tony said nothing.

She sighed.

"I can’t say I’m surprised."

"Don’t take it personally." Tony kept his face straight, though his voice was just a little too defensive. "I forget what I had for breakfast."

"Several waffles, sir."

Tony slowly turned his head toward the ceiling.

"Thanks, JARVIS."

He was beginning to suspect his AI had a hidden directive specifically designed to make him look stupid.

The woman glanced toward the hallway, then her expression became serious.

"I need to talk to you privately."

She looked over her shoulder, visibly nervous.

"Preferably somewhere else. It’s important."

Tony’s eyes narrowed.

Apparently, he had interpreted that sentence differently than she intended.

"I really shouldn’t refuse a woman asking for privacy, but..." He suddenly raised his voice several decibels. "...I do have an official girlfriend now. She’s very—"

Two heavy travel bags stuffed with clothes suddenly came flying down from the second floor.

They landed with a pair of solid thumps.

Pepper’s voice followed from above.

"Tony? Do we have company?"

Tony froze.

Down in the laboratory, Evenson watched the entire scene unfold through the security monitors.

"JARVIS, would you mind telling me who that woman is?"

"Of course, sir."

The AI immediately brought up her file.

"Maya Hansen. Born in 1982. A highly accomplished biotechnology scientist. She is currently employed by Advanced Idea Mechanics."

Evenson’s brow furrowed.

"A.I.M.? Aldrich Killian?"

"Correct, sir."

An exceptionally talented biotechnology scientist working for Killian.

Interesting.

Evenson leaned back slightly.

"Does she know Tony?"

"They met at the 1999 scientific conference in Switzerland. They also..." JARVIS paused, apparently selecting the most tactful possible wording. "...had an enjoyable conversation."

"An enjoyable conversation."

Evenson snorted.

He didn’t need to be a detective to figure out what that meant.

Then he noticed Pepper slowly making her way down the stairs.

An idea immediately occurred to him.

He turned toward Holmes and Watson.

"Come on. Let’s go upstairs and see how this plays out. Then I’ll take you two home."

"Certainly."

Holmes agreed almost instantly.

As a detective, it was only natural that he should familiarize himself with the habits and personalities of people from every level of society.

This had absolutely nothing to do with gossip.

It was research.

Purely professional research.

Watson followed him with an expression that suggested he had heard this particular justification before.

By then, Tony had stepped out of the armor.

He pointed toward Maya.

"This is Maya Hansen. She’s a botanist."

Maya stared at him.

Tony obviously recognized her. He had recognized her from the moment he opened the door. Apparently, however, he had somehow convinced himself that she was a botanist.

"An old acquaintance," Tony continued quickly. "We weren’t particularly close."

Maya gave Pepper a pleasant smile.

Sure.

You didn’t remember me five minutes ago.

Keep digging, Tony.

Pepper reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped to move a gigantic rabbit plushie that was blocking the way.

While she was occupied with it, Tony hurriedly pulled Maya aside.

He lowered his voice.

"Please don’t tell me there’s a twelve-year-old kid I’ve never met waiting in your car."

"Thirteen."

Maya corrected him without changing expression.

Tony went rigid.

For a moment, he looked as though his soul had attempted to leave his body.

Apparently, he was going to die today.

And the Mandarin wasn’t even going to get the credit.

"I’m here because I need your help," Maya said, apparently satisfied with his reaction.

Tony’s composure returned in pieces.

"Help? Help with what? Right now?"

"I read the papers."

Maya’s expression turned serious.

"Honestly, Tony, I don’t think you’re going to make it through the week."

She had come because of his very public declaration of war against the Mandarin.

Tony folded his arms.

"I’ll be fine."

"I’m sorry. I didn’t realize we had company."

Pepper finally squeezed past the enormous rabbit and hurried to Tony’s side.

She didn’t say anything.

She didn’t need to.

Her presence alone made her position perfectly clear.

Evenson arrived upstairs with Holmes and Watson shortly afterward, all three of them taking in the scene with varying degrees of interest.

"She’s not a guest," Tony said.

Probably because he was nervous, Tony immediately tried to distance himself from Maya.

Unfortunately, he chose his words poorly.

Pepper’s eyes sharpened.

"Then she’s a lover."

"Oh, no."

Tony denied it so quickly that the answer almost became suspicious on its own.

Maya, meanwhile, remained perfectly calm.

"At most, we’re one-night friends."

Pepper gave Tony a long, meaningful look.

"One of your accomplishments, I assume?"

Then she turned to Maya with a polite smile.

"Fortunately, you didn’t jump into the fire permanently. Trust me."

She glanced at Tony.

"We should get going."

Tony looked as though he wanted to leave.

Pepper looked as though she intended to leave.

Neither seemed interested in starting a fight.

The entire thing ended far too peacefully.

Evenson, Holmes, and Watson watched in silence.

All three were disappointed.

Holmes in particular looked almost offended.

Based on his previous experience, a situation like this should have resulted in a dramatic confrontation, followed by a locked-room murder at the cliffside mansion.

Instead, everyone was being remarkably reasonable.

What a letdown.

Maya, who had retreated to the side after finding herself unable to get a word in, suddenly pointed toward the television.

"Wait! Look at that!"

Her shout immediately drew everyone’s attention.

Evenson turned toward the screen.

The television was showing an aerial shot of Tony’s mansion.

At first, there was nothing unusual about it.

Then something entered the frame.

An object streaked toward the mansion at incredible speed, trailing a long, blazing contrail behind it.

Everyone’s attention snapped toward the television.

The object was coming straight for them.