Invisibility Cloak (3 page)

“Sophia?” The petite woman held out her right hand to Edgington. “I’m Amanda Harris.” She paused before continuing, “Thank you for inviting me tonight, I know our children know each other pretty well, but―”

Sophia’s face puckered together for a fraction of a moment before she interrupted, “Oh don’t be silly, Amanda.” Then she smiled. “I’m only too happy to have you here. Why, I feel like I know you already, I should have invited you sooner.” Pulling Amanda with her free hand she guided them both inside her house. “Come, I’ve been waiting to serve any more drinks until you both got here.”

Ryder narrowed his eyes at the hostess. “So, just how many others are here? I didn’t see any other cars in the driveway.”

“Remember I told you it was an intimate gathering, Ryder.”

“Meaning?” He waited for her to answer.

“I have others.” She turned to meet his look. “A wonderful man, Jeffrey Smeth and of course my very favorite friends, Roger and Mimi Carlyle.”

Ryder held the door open for them and followed them into Sophia’s house. The inside of her home was lit up like a goddamn stadium when they entered the foyer. He scowled. Anyone outside could see straight into her little palace the way she had it streaming with light. So much for security, he lamented to himself. No wonder the woman wanted a proper system installed, she was so damn showy. Was she inviting someone to rob her place?

“Over here, Ryder.” Sophia beckoned to an opening to the left. “Everyone’s in the den.”

Ryder slowed so he could follow both the women. Sophia surged ahead and dropped Amanda’s arm. He immediately noticed the tentative steps Amanda took since she no longer had a grasp of Sophia’s arm. Automatically stepping up where Sophia left off, he held Amanda’s elbow and guided her into the room.

“Thank you,” Amanda said so softly, only Ryder could hear her. He turned his head a fraction of an inch so he could meet her gaze and found clear green eyes looking at him with a grateful smile.

“My pleasure.” He tried to give her a reassuring grin.

“Look everyone! Ryder and Amanda are both here.” Sophia walked over to a tall, slim man wearing wire-rim glasses who stood by the bar with a drink in his hand. ”Make me a martini, will you, Jeffrey?” She turned to Ryder and Amanda. “What would you like?”

“White wine?” Amanda said as Ryder guided her to a spot on the couch facing who he presumed was Roger and Mimi Carlyle, since they were sitting together.

When Ryder nodded at them, the man with the jet-black hair and graying temples stood up and offered his hand. “You must be Ryder Stevenson. Sophia’s been chopping at the bit for you.” Showing a toothy smile he added, “For you both to get here.” He shook Amanda’s hand. “And you must be Amanda Harris, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

“We’re old friends of Sophia’s. I’m Roger Carlyle, and this beautiful woman is my wife, Mimi.”

Mimi Carlyle was very striking with her black hair and brown eyes. She smiled blandly at them both, and didn’t attempt to get up to shake their hands.

“Pleased to meet you,” Amanda Harris said quietly and sat down.

“Drinks everyone?” Sophia asked again a little more loudly this time.

“I’ll get it.” Ryder waited until Amanda was settled back in her seat then strode over to the small bar. “A beer will do the trick for me.”

“Any particular brand, Ryder?” Sophia opened the refrigerator door and arched an eyebrow at him.

“Anything, as long as it’s not a light beer.” He picked up the large goblet filled with white wine, while he waited for his beer.

“How about a Carlsberg Vintage 3?” Sophia held up a green bottle with an exclusive trademark.

“I would definitely not turn down one of those.” His brows popped up in surprise. “What designer label is it?”

“Bravo!” Sophia tore off the foil and popped the top off the beer. “You have definitely passed the test, Ryder.”

“And that test would be what?” Ryder reached out to take the bottle, squirming slightly on the inside. A Carlsberg Vintage 3 went for around three hundred and fifty dollars for just one bottle, making this brand one of the most expensively produced beers in the world. Who in their right mind would spend so much for a damn beer? Wouldn’t that be the shits if he dropped it? Shaking his head, he admitted, “And here I would have been happy with a Bud.”

“Your sophistication,” she said, ignoring his last remark. “Not many people are aware of the Carlsberg Vintage label.” Sophia laid her left hand on his arm and gazed up at him as she handed him the beer.

“Me? Sophisticated?” Ryder laughed. “I’m just a country boy, ma’am.” He broke eye contact with his hostess and turned his head to seek out Amanda. Their gazes locked. Her green eyes widened as he focused on her. Naked vulnerability crossed her features and she looked like a deer caught in headlights. When a blush bloomed on her face, he felt a tug in his chest.

Well, I’ll
be damned.

He didn’t think there were any women who actually blushed anymore. After a moment she looked away and pretended to study the room. Ryder made his way over to the small woman he’d help settle on the sofa and handed her the wine goblet. He just realized he didn’t introduce himself to her properly. He needed to remedy that small detail.

“Amanda?”

“Yes?” Her fingers brushed his, as he passed over the wine. “Oh, thank you for your arm and the glass of wine.” She tipped the glass in a salutation to him.

“We weren’t properly introduced.” He picked up her other hand and squeezed it softly. “My name is Ryder.” He smiled briefly. “Ryder Stevenson.”

She blushed again, and damned if he didn’t get warm too.

She took a small sip of her wine and set the glass down on the table. “Nice to meet you Mr. Stevenson, I should have introduced myself, since you’ve turned into my white knight.” After softly squeezing his palm back, she detangled his fingers from hers. “Thank you again for all your help.” She clasped both hands together and settled them on her lap.

“Call me Ryder,” he insisted as he watched Sophia saunter over with a martini in one hand and her arm looped through Jason’s. Or was his name Jeffrey?

“I need to introduce everyone.” Sophia led the tall man over to Amanda. “Amanda, this is the incredibly good-looking, incredibly single, Jeffrey Smeth.”

After Jeffrey took Amanda’s hand up to his mouth and kissed her knuckles, murmuring, “Enchanted, Ms. Harris,” Sophia walked over to him and set her hand on his arm.

Ryder ignored her and watched Amanda Harris fend off Jeffrey Smeth.

“Would you like me to show you around? Sophia and I go way back. She has a very nice house.” Jeffrey kept a hold on her hand and pulled her up from the couch. “I could point out the finer highlights of this place.” He wagged his eyebrows and tugged Amanda a few more steps toward the hallway.

Was he the only one that noticed Amanda’s hesitation slide across her face? She may have been bravely smiling, but he could see through the light display of flirting. And shit, the way Smeth tugged on her arm . . . He may just pull her over. Ryder readied himself in case he had to leap over there to save Amanda if she tripped. Irritation had him curling his hands into fists.

Before Jeffrey could take another step, Sophia Edgington giggled. “Wait a moment, Jeffrey.” She put up her hand to stop him. “This is Ryder Stevenson.” She looked at Ryder.

“Ryder, this is Jeffrey Smeth, an old friend. We go way back.”

“So I hear,” he murmured.

Jeffrey’s hand reached out to Ryder. “So this is the infamous Ryder Stevenson.” He let out a low whistle. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Nice to meet you.”

Ryder clasped Jeffrey’s hand. Furrowing his brow he looked over at Sophia. “Infamous?”

She laughed and took a healthy swig of her martini before explaining, “Yes, I’ve told him all about how you re-wired my security system.” Leaning in closer to Ryder she added, “And how you accompanied me to events and make me feel safe.”

“Yes, well, that is part of my job, Sophia,” Ryder offered.

“Oh! Now I know where I know you from!” Roger Carlyle said loudly and smacked his hand on his knee. All eyes turned to Roger.

“Your last name. Weren’t you married to Dr. Harris?” Carlyle’s voice heightened. “The one that was killed not too long ago, right?”

Ryder looked over at Amanda and her face paled to an alarming white shade. He softly walked over by her. His protective instinct had turned on full blast.

By now, Jeffrey had let go of his hold on her arm.

“Ah ha! You are right, Rog.” Smeth closed his eyes and tipped his head back. His glasses reflected the chandelier’s tiny light strands before he swiveled his face around to Amanda. “Dr. Wayne Harris. He was your husband? Good God, he was be―” He stopped mid- sentence after looking at Amanda.

Thankfully the asshole stopped right there before saying it out loud, or else Ryder would’ve been more than happy to shut his mouth another way. Seeing the expression on her face, Jeffrey walked swiftly back to Amanda and put his arm around her shoulders. “Oh, you poor dear.”

Amanda’s frame stiffened and she looked blankly at Sophia’s and Jeffrey’s face before she refocused her eyes to look out the darkened window. After a few strained moments she softly said, “Excuse me,” and walked to the hallway.

Ryder had no idea if Amanda was set on gathering herself together in the restroom, or actually just leaving. He didn’t care where she was going, he just knew he wanted to be right there with her. It was hard enough being around Sophia, let alone a few of her pretentious friends, and if Amanda was leaving, well hell, he was out of here too.

“Amanda.” Ryder caught up with her and put his hand under her elbow. “You okay?” She didn’t slow as he came up beside her, but she didn’t have to since she was taking slow, methodical steps. When she didn’t respond, he tried again. “Do you want to leave?”

She shook her head. “No, I don’t want to be rude.”

Ryder felt that odd feeling take hold of him again as he turned to look at her. A sense of pride swam through him and he didn’t have a clue to why or where the fierce protection came from, but he did know he liked this woman. But then she was a widow, and her husband had been Wayne Harris?

Damn.
That was some bad stuff. It’d been all over the television and he read about it on the internet. The brilliant scientist was sliced and diced; beheaded and his body cut into pieces. Dismemberment was the modus operandi of the Mexican Drug Cartel. They were the roughest and meanest around. Anyone with half a brain wouldn’t go near them. Now why was Amanda’s husband mixed up with them? They were bad to the bone. Was she involved? He hoped not, because he liked and admired her. And he was drawn to her; a whole hell of a lot.

His respect for her grew. She wasn’t anything like Sophia Edgington or the other bozos there tonight. She had no hard edges and false body parts. And the parts Ryder had seen made him catch his breath―especially the way her little white dress clung to her hot little figure. With her hair pulled up in a soft twist on her nape, her neck looked long and slender. Thoughts of kissing and stroking her neck, down to her shoulders, then lower still, flashed through his mind.

Looking at her this close, he realized how pretty she was. It didn’t look like she even wore any make-up, but shit, he couldn’t tell, he was no expert on that stuff. All he knew was he really didn’t like the overloaded look some women sported. It made him want to see if her lips were really as soft as they looked. He wondered what she looked like with her hair down, loose and around her face. He glanced around for a place where they could be alone. When tall French doors came up on his left, he peered out and spotted a white balcony.

Perfect.

“Here, let’s head outside to the back patio, then.” Ryder opened a door that led out to a beautifully landscaped brick porch and saw a place to sit between some bushes. “Over here, let’s sit on the bench.” He led her to an artfully carved stone bench and sat down beside her. “We can just sit here and calm down, take a few breaths or we can talk.”

W
ell, well. That was interesting. Her brown eyes followed Amanda Harris and Ryder Stevenson as they walked out of the room. The meek little ex-wife was still partial to her ex-husband’s demise, and she brought out Ryder’s protective streak. Maybe she would come in useful after all. Did she know anything? Did her two kids? Wayne Harris did admit he sent them something. They never should have engaged the wimp, Harris in the first place, especially when there were plenty of willing men to divulge the combination of the invisibility cloaking device on the research team; for a high price, that is. Wayne Harris proved too righteous in the end. No one screws with Alejandro. The message had to be sent. But damn it, she wanted Ryder. She narrowed her eyes as she watched them and pushed her feelings of lust aside.

They needed to keep an eye on the ex-wife and kids for a while to see if what the good doctor threatened was true. She’d tell Alejandro as soon as she was able.

Chapter 3

“
T
hanks,” Amanda said quietly. She gazed around the back patio. It was beautiful. Just like everything Sophia Edgington had―lovely. She’d felt extremely dowdy here with Sophia and all of her friends. Ryder Stevenson was just as gorgeous as everyone else here, but he wasn’t quite like them. He seemed more down to earth, and that set him apart in her eyes. Nevertheless he was a hard one to figure out. Why in the devil had he followed her? He didn’t even know her. This was just over the top embarrassing.

She rubbed her forehead. She should’ve known this would happen; Wayne’s death and suspicion of illegal activities as a topic of conversation. He’d been killed over two months ago. It was bound to come up sooner or later.

“I’m sorry about your husband,” Ryder said softly. “How long were you married?”

“Ex,” she said automatically. “Wayne was my ex-husband.” His question brought her out of her thoughts. “We were divorced over ten years ago.” She straightened her spine and met him head on. It was the least she could do. “He used to be such a good man.”

Their eyes met and her body tingled. Lordy, he was a fine looking specimen. Desire spiraled through her and she greedily took him in. His short black hair accentuated a straight, bold nose and those observant dark chocolate eyes. She almost licked her lips, but caught her tongue in the nick of time. Short hair on men always attracted her more than the long-haired guy thing.

This man though, was distinctly male. Was that a sexist thought? She took a deep breath. It had been ages since she even
thought
the word sex, let alone actually
had
sex. Why was sex on her mind right now?

The way Ryder looked at her . . . Well, she didn’t think she’d ever had a man this gorgeous ever eye her like that. She was the skinny, science nerd. Previously, when the other science geeks came on to her, she could handle those guys. But Ryder, he was a different story altogether. She had to divert her attention; he was too much.

Way out of her league.

Pulling her eyes away from him, she turned to the inky darkness of the backyard. It was a pretty night. As they both sat on the bench, her body tensed until she leaned back on the hard seat and took in a fortifying breath.

“This is nice,” she said and lowered her eyelids. The sounds of the night took over. An owl hooted rivaling the rhythmic chirping of the crickets somewhere in the dark.

“Wayne and I were married before either of us finished our degrees at Duke.” With her eyes still closed, she decided to confide in this stranger. God only knows why.

“He was such a good man when I married him. Nick and Sammie came very fast. I loved life and we loved each other. We had grants and research and believe me, for us science geeks, it really was heaven.” Needing the validity of the heavens, she straightened and opened her eyes. The half-moon and splatter of stars reassured her. “It was a few years later, that everything unraveled. I left him or he left us. Whatever . . . It was over.”

With the soothing background sounds of the night, Amanda laid her head back against the cold stone bench again.

“I’m sorry,” Ryder said quietly. “Power has a way of changing people.”

“Yes, influence. Ego, maybe?” she looked at Ryder again. “But he never deserved what they did to him.”

“Do you know who ‘they’ are? Amanda, do you know who he was mixed up with?”

“No, we stopped talking about anything like that ten years ago.”

Ryder nodded and clasped his hands together.

R
yder wasn’t sure what to make of the feelings roiling around his gut after talking to her. She had two kids and was divorced ten years from a man who was viciously butchered by one of the Mexican drug lords. Amanda just seemed so damn innocent. The lost look on her pretty face tore at his gut, making him want to know more about her.

“Thank you for the respite.” Amanda stood. “But I need to go back in and face the firing squad.” She made a small smile.

“You sure? You can always just get out of here.”

“No,” she wrapped her hands around her middle. “I’ll need to face this eventually. And there is no time like the present, right?” She lifted her eyebrows.

“I’m ready to eat, how about you?” Ryder extended his arm to her and they started back to face the others.

As they left the garden, he asked softly, “What happened to your leg?” Not knowing how to approach the subject. Women were so damn touchy. He didn’t want to upset her, but she limped and hip-hiked slightly, seeming to need a hand as she walked. Finally, his curiosity got the best of him.

“Accident.” She cleared her throat. “Car accident a few months ago. My . . . my Honda went over an embankment. It was odd.”

“How so?” He glanced at her. “What happened to cause you to tumble over, what? The side of a hill?”

“Well, I was on Parker, almost to Cliff Avenue. While I was going around the turn―” She stopped and asked, “You know the one? It’s a hilly road anyway.”

Ryder nodded. He knew the area she was talking about. It was a steep inclined stretch of lone road that led to another prestigious neighborhood; mansions much like Sophia Edgington’s but they all backed up to the mountains.

“It was weird. Another car came up beside me and nudged me over the rail.”

“What?” He rubbed the back of his neck. ”Nudged?”

“Yeah, came right up beside me and kept pushing me more to the side of the road.” Her teeth skimmed the top of her bottom lip as she remembered the accident.

Her innocent reaction ignited a spark inside of him. The urge to haul her up against him and kiss her, burned through him. Moving closer to her, he lowered his head but she stepped away engrossed with explaining what had happened the night of the accident.

“I’d even tried to go faster or slower just to break away. But the car mirrored every move I made.”

She didn’t even notice my intentions.
He shook his head at himself and refocused on what she was telling him.

“Do you remember what the car looked like? Make or model?”

“A dark SUV of some kind. Black, I think. Yeah, it was the weirdest thing. I’ve never been so scared. Thank God the kids weren’t with me.”

Again, he rubbed the back of his neck to calm the anxiety running through him. “Have you noticed any other weird things happening? Anything else out of the ordinary?”

“Well.” she tilted her head and hesitated as if to tell him something else, but then shook it resolutely. “Well, no.” Then more firmly she said, “No.” A few silky strands fell out of her bun and landed softly against her jawline.

Ryder recognized that look on her already. “What? What were you thinking of?”

“I just . . .” She lowered her eyes and murmured under her breath, “It’s just . . .” She stopped before they reached the archway that led back inside the room with all the other guests, and figured she wanted to talk.

“Amanda,” Ryder began. “My business is security. That’s why I’m here at Edgington’s tonight. I wired her house. From top to bottom.”

“Oh, I thought you two were dating,” she said quickly. “Sophia said she was seeing you.”

“Well, sure, she’s seeing me. She’s seen me plenty these last few weeks, re-wiring her residence and setting up perimeters to secure her home.” He grinned at her. ”She is not my type, darlin’.”

Her brows wrinkled as Ryder watched her take in all the information he just gave her. She was so damn cute.

“Oh, okay.”

“Ready to do this?”

“Yes. I have to.” She held her head up high and inhaled deeply. “Let’s go.” Turning those gorgeous green eyes on him, she said, “And . . .” She exhaled. “Thank you.”

Ryder nodded and opened the door.

“R
yder!” Sophia rushed up as soon as they entered the room. “I’m so glad you brought her back!” Laying her hand on his shoulder, she said, “What would I ever do without you?” Then she turned her attention to Amanda.

“Amanda, I’m so glad you weren’t run off.” Sophia stroked Ryder’s shirt. “This man is so handy to have around.” She lifted her hand off his stomach to flick her nose, sniffing delicately.

Amanda immediately apologized. “I’m sorry. That was so rude.”

“Oh, please. I’m just sorry your husband’s murder came up!” Sophia turned to dramatically glare at Roger Carlyle.

“No, it was bound to come up, and I have to learn to deal with it,” Amanda said, before adding, “And Wayne was my ex-husband, we’d been divorced for ten years.”

“Please excuse me, Ms. Harris, so very thoughtless of me.” Roger jumped out of his seat and his tan hands covered hers.

Amanda looked up at Roger then down at their hands. “No apologies are necessary.”

Sophia sighed and rolled her eyes. “All right, enough drama!” Lifting both of her arms up, she ushered everyone into the dining room. “Time to eat!”

They all followed her through French doors into a lavishly decorated dining room. Ornate trim molding covered the top half of the wall and melded up into the entire ceiling. Three huge bay windows surrounded a long Mahogany table already set with China place settings.

“Everyone grab your seat. I put placards on where you should sit.”

Ryder’s name was to Sophia’s right. He stayed near Amanda and pulled out her chair. She was sandwiched in between Jeffrey Smeth and Roger Carlyle. Mimi Carlyle was placed next to his right; Jeffrey was on Sophia’s left.

“Jeffrey, would you mind pouring, darling?” Sophia instructed as she shook out her cloth napkin.

“I’d be honored, Sophia.” Smeth stood up. Grabbing the wine bottle, he walked around the table to pour the dark red liquid into the smaller goblets. Everyone’s place setting already had larger crystal glasses filled with water.

“So, onto more cheerful subjects.” Sophia lightly chuckled. Just as her laughter died away, the door opened behind her and two servants bustled about filling plates and serving various breads.

Roger took a sip of wine and held up his glass to the others around the table. “Ah, to the finer things of life. Isn’t that right, Sophia?” He held up his wine glass. “Here! Here, everyone! To our consummate hostess.” Roger gestured to Sophia. “Sophia Edgington.”

As the other five glasses were held up, Ryder’s gaze sought Amanda’s across the table. She smiled at something Jeffrey said to her. Irritated that someone else held her attention, he scowled. As if she sensed his annoyance, she turned and their eyes met. Her uncertain expression tugged at his chest.

This was not good.
Shit
. He wanted her. Slightly smiling, he tried to disguise his interest. Amanda darted her eyes away from his, ducking her head, she smiled. Her modesty charmed him. Amanda Harris fascinated him.

“So, Ryder,” Roger Carlyle said across the table. “I may have some security issues at my business. I heard from Sophia you are the one to handle those, eh?”

Roger’s question pulled him out of daydreaming about Amanda.

For the love of . . .

Regaining his faculties, Ryder looked over at him. “Absolutely, where’s your office located, Roger?”

“Downtown. Right off Parker Place.” Roger tipped his head back. After draining his glass, he held it up to Smeth. “Jeffrey? Mind pouring me another, old chap?”

Jeffrey rolled his eyes, but pushed out of his chair and grabbed the bottle on the way to Roger’s seat. Pouring half a glass into Roger’s goblet, he grumbled, “Save some for the rest of us, ya lush.”

“Ha!” Roger patted Jeffrey on the back when he turned to walk back to his seat. “I’m the one who knows how to handle my liquor, son.”

Jeffrey looked back at him with a snarl before he sat back down.

“Oh Yes, I’m sure we can all recall a few weeks ago at The Club,
Jef-frey
how you stumbled after a few shots of whiskey.” Roger snickered.

“I was not stumbling from drinking, you pompous ass!” Jeffrey glared at him. “I actually tripped on the damn rug. Sophia can definitely attest to that fact.”

Sophia softly chuckled. “Boys, boys.”

“Remember, Sophia?” Jeffrey pointed at Roger. “Tell them.”

“Anything you say, Jeffrey darling.”

“Ha.” Jeffrey puffed out-loud, cutting open a roll and slathered it with butter.

Ryder thought that was an interesting exchange of words. And they were all friends with each other? These friends weren’t like his. The guys he hung out with in his spare time, looked and talked like mountain men compared to these prissies. Although the people at this table acted like a bunch of jellyfish they were taking shark bites out of each other. At least the conversation at the table tonight hit on interesting topics.

When the immigration issue then came up, it was a rousing debate. Should the government allow undocumented immigrants to walk across the border and birth their children here and then those illegal children are deemed a United States citizen? It was clearly an emotional subject. Ryder realized that it was one of those hot topics people just avoided, kind of like religion. Especially since Harbor Falls was so close to the Mexican border.

“I think the Mexican immigrants who are here illegally should leave on their own accord and come back the right way.” Sophia said then dug into her salad.

Mimi’s head jerked up. “That’s an interesting point of view coming from you, Sophia, dear, considering―”

“Considering?” Sophia interrupted Mimi and raised her eyebrows staring Mimi down; all the while she toyed with the stem of her wineglass.

In the middle of eating his Caesar salad, Ryder choked when Mimi Carlyle spoke up; she’d been so quiet up until that point.

“My mother died going between borders, “Mimi said quietly. “Worked in California as seasonal help. You Americans certainly wanted the Mexican immigrants around then.” Her face contorted with anger as she narrowed her eyes. “Americans use people and spit them out! All for your own benefit.”