Invisibility Cloak (6 page)

“That’s not too far away from here,” Amanda murmured.

The camera lens zoomed in on bodies spread out with black tarps covering the forms of the men. It was obvious that the bodies had been mutilated. The camera swerved away and revealed the country’s border. Endless rails of fencing glided over the desert landscape dividing the two countries. A handful of cattle chewing their cud meandered leisurely on sparsely grassed New Mexico side. The thinly populated United States border area was just pure wilderness with the exception of a few horses and other livestock roaming the hills. Conversely, luxurious homes and a thriving town were thrust up against the wooden fence separating the two countries on the Mexican side. The streets bustled with cars and people milled about.

“Divergent cultures; Divergent people.” Rodger Barro’s handsome face came back on the screen. “Will we ever agree to come together to end the violence?”

Divergent? Sure the people were different, but it was Mexican Cartels doing these killings, not ordinary citizens. Forget divergent, Ryder thought crossly. It was the slimy Cartels sneaking across the borders bringing in drugs then leaving with our young American runaways to throw into slave labor.
Sneaky bastards.
It was the Cartels destroying their own economy― not to mention the integrity and work ethic of the honest Mexican people. All of the blatant dishonesty and evil of trafficking people and drugs was for the almighty dollar.

Dinero.

The killings, cover-ups, prostituting human beings and selling drugs was all for wealth. But money was power around here; hell money represented a higher station in life everywhere. He took a swig of beer and laid his head back on the couch.

“Hey.” Amanda’s hand brushed over his arm. “You okay? This really upsets you, doesn’t it?” Her eyes roamed over his brooding face.

Once her fingers softly touched his forearm, all else flew out the window. Thoughts of the slimy Cartels eroded and Amanda’s image quickly built up. A hyper-awareness slammed into him. All he wanted to do was press himself against her and lower her back to the couch, but he contained himself and instead calmly turned to her after the news broadcast was over and said, “Gruesome stuff.”

The television show was back on, now. Five scruffy looking people argued on how to cross a river in some unknown country. But he couldn’t care less at the moment. He was mulling over all that transpired today.

“Why don’t we ask Nick to come on back down, so I can talk to him?” Ryder’s scalp tingled and that wasn’t a good thing. His spidey senses screamed at him that something was off. “Would Nick mind talking to me about it?”

“I don’t think so.” Amanda got up and walked to the landing, “Nick? Can you come down here for a second, please?”

Ryder got up as well to make sure she didn’t trip. What the hell was going on with him? He never felt this protective of a female before.

After what sounded like some kitchen cupboards slapping shut, Nick finally yelled back, “Yeah, give me a minute.”

“Let’s go sit back down. I think I need a sip of beer to steady my nerves.” Amanda tugged on his arm and Ryder followed her back around the corner.

What was she going to tell him earlier when they were going back in for dinner at Sophia’s? Before it slipped his mind again he had to find out.

“What were you going to tell me earlier, Amanda?” They both sat down on the sofa and he offered her the beer.

After taking a healthy sip, she lowered the can and cradled it in her palms. “When?”

“At Sophia Edgington’s.” He waited a beat before saying, “When we were out on the terrace.”

Amanda narrowed her eyes and her gaze slipped off his face. After a few seconds she asked, “About the car pushing me off the road?”

“Yeah, you told me about that, but you alluded to something else as well.” He waited for her to remember. “Or was I just imagining that?”

“Are you sure you want to hear this?” She ducked her head and swept her hand over her hair, but her fingers got tangled in her bun and blond hair strands sprayed out all over her face. “Ah,” she murmured in frustration before her fingers reached back and undid her small chignon. “I forgot about this.” She pulled out the clip that secured her hair and held it up in the air showing him what she was talking about before she set the brown clasp on the table. Bending over, she shook out her hair.

Ryder was hypnotized. The complex design of women fascinated him. Or maybe only this one did. As she bent her head down ruffling her blond hair to detangle the strands, the lower half of his body responded with arousal. What the hell? Since when did a woman letting down her hair get him excited?

She had pretty hands. No fingernail polish or rings, only a delicate silver chain sliding back and forth on her wrist as she threaded her fingers through her hair. The bracelet had various sizes of silver circles all intertwined together. When she pulled her head up, she was grinning and still had a few bobby pins crazily sticking out. She reached for her beer and took a sip. He studied her as she gracefully moved, and held his breath.

This woman is beautiful.
Her beauty was the polar opposite of Sophia Edgington’s glamour.

Where women like Sophia had heavily made up faces and God only knows how many enhanced body parts, Amanda was a breath of fresh air. The handful of freckles that were splashed across her petite nose only accented her startling green eyes. Her dark blond brows arched perfectly over her emerald greens and reached out to her temples delicately. When she reached over to place her Budweiser back on the table, he couldn’t resist and slid his arm around her. She smiled when her eyes met his, but as he pulled her closer, she took him in and her grin faltered.

He knew he looked serious. Frightening could better describe his look. The Rangers in his unit used to razz him about it. When Ryder focused his intent on a mission, he was two hundred percent into it; he never failed. He didn’t want to scare her off, but when he wanted something he was serious as hell. And he wanted her. So, he leaned forward to taste her. He knew he had to be gentle.

She readily lifted her lips up to meet his. Satisfaction filled him in a way he hadn’t felt in a long time. He slid his palms under her legs and lifted her onto his lap. Their mouths met. Pleasure and intense need took over his body.

Amanda moaned softly as they set in for a deep kiss. Sweet was the only way to describe her. Ryder brought her even closer and their chests pressed against each other. Crazy with need, his hands roamed. Hard palms skimmed up her calves, delving up the side of her legs. His fingers explored the back of her knees, tucking and stroking her soft skin with rough fingers until he gained another soft moan from her. While his lips were still latched on to hers, he formed a smile. Moving slowly upward, he savored the soft texture of her thighs. Since she didn’t have hose on, he could feel how soft her skin really was. His hands edged their way up and skimmed over the silkiness of her lingerie. Sliding both of his thumbs under her panties, she shuddered. Closer and closer he ventured until he was ready to push her on her back on the couch and―

“Mom?” a young feminine voice asked from upstairs.

Chapter 5

A
manda immediately stiffened and pulled her mouth away. “Yes, Sammie?” Turning her face toward her daughter’s voice in the stairway, her hair slid softly across his cheek.

That was when Ryder felt Amanda’s nails digging into his biceps.
Shit!
What was he doing for Christ sakes? Mauling a woman in her basement with her kids in the house, that was what he was doing. He gently lifted her off his lap and set her next to him on the couch. The warmth instantly left him. Amanda furiously batted her hair down and her face flamed pink. “What are you doing . . . ?” The young voice asked haltingly, “. . . down there?”

Amanda turned her head offering an explanation, “My daughter Sammie.” She ran her tongue up and over her top lip before she stood and walked to the stairwell. “Come on down, sweetie.”

“Okay.” Soft footsteps treaded down the wood basement steps and the young voice murmured, “What’re you doing? You never come down here, Mom.”

After they turned the corner he heard her youthful gasp. “Oh!”

“Honey, this is Ryder Stevenson,” Amanda explained. “I met him at Sophia Edgington’s dinner party tonight.”

Ryder stood up, waiting to see if he should introduce himself or not, she was so damn young.

“Oh. Did you see Zoe there?” A younger version of Amanda asked her mother while looking discreetly at Ryder.

“No, honey. Funny, Nick asked the same of Zane.” Amanda laughed lightly. “It was a dinner for adults only.”

“Oh. Okay” Sammie’s forehead furrowed and she looked hard at Ryder. “So what are you doing down here?” She pulled her eyes back up to her mother’s face.

“I did call out when I came home.” Amanda looked helplessly at her daughter. “But when no one answered I thought you were both busy studying.”

Sammie looked amused and smiled at her mother. “That’s okay, Mom, I did hear you, but I think I was on the phone. Sorry.”

Taking a step closer to the teenager, he offered his hand. “Sammie, I’m Ryder, nice to meet you.”

The little girl blushed just like her mother. “Hi.” She shook his hand briefly.

“I actually thought we could play some pool. Want to join us?” Amanda said.

Her daughter’s gaze instantly turned devious. “Yeah, you bet.”

“Looks can be deceiving Ryder, my little girl looks harmless enough, but she is a pool shark.” Amanda laughed when her daughter scowled at her.

“Mom!” Sammie shrieked. “There is no way I can hustle this guy now!”

“Uh huh.” As soon as Amanda looked at Sammie, they both grinned.

Ryder enjoyed watching them. It was refreshing to see a mother getting along so well with her kids. They were nothing like Sophia Edgington and her son and daughter. When he’d accompanied her to one of the kid’s plays, they’d all met up later after the show. There was tension everywhere you turned. Kind of like the dinner party they’d just left. Little snide remarks flew all over the place.

“Whaddya need, Mom?” Nick stomped down the stairs.

“Oh that’s right. Pool game will have to wait a moment, Sammie.” Amanda pointed to the sofa. “Everyone sit down. Ryder has a few things to ask you, Nickel.”

The young kid instantly narrowed his eyes and tilted his head. “Oh yeah? What?”

“Honey, please. Ryder owns his own security business. He only wants to help.”

Ryder didn’t want to ruffle the kid’s feathers any more than he had to, but he was a tad bit more experienced in this stuff.

“So, what did the man look like that wanted to come in and check your phone lines?”

“Dark hair. Dark eyes. Dark complexion. Mexican or at least South American, I think.”

“Did he have on a uniform of some sort? Showing the cable company’s name on his shirt anywhere?”

“Well that one little absentee fact.” Nickel held up his index finger. “Which I noticed right away, was what concerned me.” He cleared his throat and waited for Ryder to ask him something else.

“Good eye, Nick.” Ryder was impressed with the kid’s judgment call. “You could have stopped a robbery or home invasion right there with your hunch.”

Nick nodded and pressed his lips together, obviously trying not to grin from the pleasure that showed on his face from Ryder’s approval. He pushed his glasses up his nose instead and ducked his head.

“Oh.” Amanda piped in, “Ryder, what I was going to tell you earlier.” She glanced at both of her children first. “I didn’t want to say anything, only because I didn’t want to worry you both, but I have seen men lurking around the street and―” she stopped abruptly and looked at Ryder. “I suppose I should just tell you later,” she muttered.

“Go on, Amanda.” Ryder knew immediately that she was holding something back, maybe so she wouldn’t scare her kids. “We need to know it all. You want your kids prepared don’t you?”

“Yes, absolutely.” She closed her eyes briefly then opened them. “Well, I’m not one hundred percent sure, but it seemed liked some things were out of place in our house.”

“Such as?” Ryder prompted.

“Well, like where I usually hang my purse on the hook in the mudroom. I found it later that day on the floor. And my cell phone. It was in the wrong compartment in my purse.”

“Could I have moved it, Mom?” Nickel asked.

“No, it was earlier in the day, when you were at school.”

“Mom!” Sammie’s eyes widened. “You mean someone else was in our house?”

“
D
id you get the letter?” Her dark eyes narrowed at Esteban. The burly man’s muscles twitched in his tight white T-shirt. Perhaps the idiot didn’t understand.

Looking out the window at the dark sky, she clipped out the question in their native language.
“¿Le dio la carta.”
She huffed out a breath.
“Estúpido
imbécil”
Stupid moron!

It was so hard to find good help nowadays.

Alejandro had only asked one thing of her. To recover this letter that Dr. Wayne Harris said he’d mailed.

“No. no lo he encontrado. intenté, pero el crío no me deja
en!”
For such a big man, Esteban sounded very small and whiny. His dark eyes pleaded with her to be lenient. But knowing
El Jefe
, the Boss, would be very unhappy with the outcome of Esteban’s last trip to Harbor Falls, she contemplated on what to do with him. He could not find the letter earlier when he’d broken into the house a few days ago. He tried to get in tonight, but the brat would not let him in.

Hmm.
So Esteban’s face had been seen; he could be identified. Not good. Nodding to him, thoughts on what to do with the incompetent ass ran through her competent brain.

¿Qué tengo que hacer
Think. Sighing, she was tired of killing, so another solution came to mind.

“I have one more mission for you. See if you can get into the house while everyone is asleep. If you do well―that is come back with some information we can use―then you can report to our office in Tampico. You screw up again and you will not be employed anymore, anywhere.”

Esteban just looked at her.
Unbelievable.
If only these
estúpido folla
would realize that they needed to learn the English language. But no, if they did, they could rise faster in the echelons and the ranks could be recast. And being in charge was good. More than good. Maybe the solution would be to just kill him now? No, they were losing too many men as it was. The best solution was to send Esteban to Tampico. One more chance. Let’s see how Esteban will do at night. No one will see his face. But this was his last chance; he’d die the next time he failed.

“Tienen una misión más para usted. ver si se puede entrar en la casa mientras todo mundo está dormido. si lo haces bien- que es volver con alguna información que podemos utilizar, a continuación, puede informar a nuestra oficina en tampico. usted de nuevo y que no sean empleados ya."

After dryly translating the decision as to the incompetent’s fate, Esteban nodded heartily.

Ah, so now he understood. She waved him off. Esteban nodded some more as he walked backward to the door. Was he scared he would get shot in the back? Well, he should be. At last the moron was finally showing some brains.

She ground her teeth together.
What to do . . . What to do . . .
Immediately she relaxed her jaw because she didn’t want to chip a tooth and these teeth cost her too much to ruin.

It just might be time to send in someone else now. It shouldn’t be too hard. But she limped. And limping. . . Limping was not perfection. But life wasn’t always perfect.

Así es la vida.
Sacrifice was a part of life.

“
P
rotect your family, Amanda. Tell them what you saw that made you realize that someone was in your house,” Ryder prompted by stepping closer to her. He placed his palms on her shoulders. Heat radiated off his body standing behind hers, like a big support post. She breathed in deeply.

With wide eyes, her children waited for her to speak up.

“It seemed papers were shuffled in the kitchen. And the bedrooms . . .” Amanda turned around to look at Ryder. “I could just tell things were moved.”

How had he become so important so fast? Such a mainstay when she’d just met him? Loud bells clanked a warning signal in her head. It didn’t make sense. Why was he here with her? Yet, he stood so firmly behind her, his hands cupping her shoulders gently while slightly massaging her muscles. Looking so casual, yet Amanda had the feeling that he was ready for anything at any moment.

“Go on.” His dark eyes encouraged her to continue. “Did it look like someone had messed up the rooms?”

“Yeah, but it was hard to tell in Sammie and Nickel’s rooms.” She laughed nervously. “I don’t know. Maybe I was imagining things.” She ran her hands through her hair because she didn’t know what else to do with them.

“No, I don’t think you were, Amanda. Instincts are very important. You have to listen to them.”

“So, Mom,” Nick pushed his glasses up his nose. “We won’t let anyone in we don’t know, okay?”

“Okay.” Her voice trembled. “I just don’t like any of this. And I don’t understand it either.”

“Could this have anything to do with Dad?” Sammie asked, “Yunno, how he died and stuff?”

Amanda walked over to her and put an arm around her daughter’s waist. “I just don’t know, honey.” She forced a smile. “How about a game of pool?” Needing to lighten the mood, she asked, “You game, Nickel?”

“Sure, I guess I have time to beat my
skank-breath
little sister,” he said softly into Sammie’s ear as he walked past her striding to the table. He picked up two pool sticks and examined their cue tips, waiting for her to catch up.

Little stinker taunted her by going for the pool stick she always used.

“Ha!” Sammie tossed at her older brother and sauntered over to their table. “That’s what you think,
lizard face
,” and confidently reached for her pool stick just in the nick of time causing Nickel to scowl.

Amanda couldn’t help but smile as they walked over to the Brunswick Ashbee nine-foot table; it was a beaut. Sure it was a nice pool table with the classic espresso stained frame, but it held so many wonderful memories of the whole family. Wayne was a really good pool player and he taught both the kids at an early age. Probably the only time their father spent time with them was playing pool. Well, quality time; and the kids ate it up. It was another side of Wayne. Amanda actually loved watching her then-husband play. Wayne was so methodical. Just as he approached everything in life, he’d analyze where the balls were scattered on the table and have so much fun meticulously dropping the shots into the pockets. He’d patiently explained the dynamics of pool to their kids.

After they divorced, it seemed this solid table was the only real way all three of them bonded. Sammie and Nickel excelled at the billiards even more than their father and that was why Wayne let the Brunswick Ashbee stay at the house. So having the pool table at her house enabled the kids to become extremely proficient at the game. She just hoped they wouldn’t beat Ryder too badly; it was hard on a grown man’s ego when teenagers whipped them at pool.

As Sammie gathered up the balls, Nick picked out another pool stick.

Ryder walked up next to him checking out the sticks that were left to use. “Not much to choose from.” After examining the cue tips of the remaining sticks, he grabbed two and rolled them on the table. Watching them wobble and turn, he finally declared, “I’ll take this one,” and picked up the left one. Lifting it straight up, he grabbed the small chalk cube and brushed the top of the stick.

Amanda stayed silently impressed, glad he knew what he was doing.

“Let’s let the ladies break, Nick,” Ryder said as Sammie racked up the balls.

Amanda knew how much joy playing pool gave Sammie. And now with Wayne gone, she knew that playing pool made both of her children feel closer to him.

Sammie skillfully set up the breaking shot, and bent down to strike. Two solid balls glided smoothly into the side pockets. Her next shot missed the pocket, but barely and Sammie grimaced.

“Good shot, Sammie,” Ryder said as he looked at his options left on the table. “You gonna play, Amanda?” Squinting his eyes for a few moments he hunkered down so he was eye level with the few balls left on the table before he turned back to her.

“Ah, no.” Amanda chuckled softly. “That is definitely my children’s area of domain.”

“Be my partner, then?” Ryder laughed. “Hey, I need some help here, woman.”

“I’m not sure how much help I’ll be, though,” she said lightly, then took a sip of beer.

Tipping his own beer up to his mouth, he smiled. “I have a feeling you’re a tad bit edgier than I am. Look at your own kids. I’m meat on a stick here.”

Feeling sympathy for the man brave enough to take on her two children, she stepped up. “How can I refuse? With an invitation like that, I mean.”

Ryder glanced reverently upward. “I may just survive this. Thank you, Lord.”

This man just endeared himself even more to her.

“You start, honey,” Ryder said behind her shoving the pool stick into her right hand.