Invisibility Cloak (14 page)

Terrence just couldn’t seem to understand the word
No
or
No thank-you
or
No, I’m going to call the cops if you don’t leave me alone
. It was real creepy how he followed her everywhere. She tipped her head back and silently prayed,
please let Ginny be at Wayne’s office
.

Stepping back into the bathroom to pull a brush through her hair she spied her bracelet. For some mysterious reason, just seeing her silver-orbited chain made her feel serene. When she noticed it in the jewelry store window years ago, she felt the same calming feeling overtake her then too. Smiling, she fastened the silver bracelet onto her wrist and instantly felt better, more sure of herself. After brushing her teeth, she realized she’d better tell her kids where she was off to. She’d have a standoff with Ryder later, she was sure, and wasn’t looking forward to butting heads with him
, again.
Well, so soon anyway.
But it was kinda fun.
She smirked at herself in the mirror.

But honestly . . . She knew Wayne’s colleagues wouldn’t breathe a word of any of the classified projects Wayne was in the middle of if Ryder glared over her shoulder at them. Looking like he would flatten any one of them with that look of his. Ryder’s dark brown eyes, short black hair, and that day-old beard peppered on his chiseled jaw flitted through her thoughts and she grinned. He was just so big, and rugged and tough looking.

He
thought
he could intimidate anyone by that hard-ass expression he wore, but she knew better now. He just looked tough. On the inside he was as soft as a puppy. She’d seen his eyes warm up to that liquid sable color when he was aroused. Sometimes, that muscle in his jaw would start working too; causing that bad-boy persona to come through, but she got his number.

Actually she was getting to know him pretty well over a short time period, something that she’d never done with another individual other than her children. She checked herself once in the mirror before heading into Sammie’s room to let her know she was running up to the Institute and would be back soon.

Entering her thirteen-year-old’s soft lilac room, she found Sammie lying on her bed reading a book.

“Hey, Sam, I’m going to do an errand. I’ll be back within the hour.” Her little girl looked so pretty against the delicately pale purple striped wallpaper that graced her room. Extremely pleased that it turned out so well, because she really wasn’t sure it would work with the other colors Sammie had picked out for the room. She had to hand it to her child, she knew how to put those hues together so the yellow, and cornflower blue looked stunning against the pale lilac paper. Perhaps she’d let Sammie go at it with some of the other rooms in the house. Amanda had never been into decorating or even shopping for that matter and she knew her house paid the price. The only shopping she enjoyed was the weekly grocery shopping at the market down the road. Fresh vegetables and fruit were the mainstays, along-side healthy chicken dishes. But clothes shopping?

Blah.
Thank God for online shopping. As long as she could remember, she’d always been that way. When her friends in junior high and high school were running round the malls trying on clothes and make-up, she stayed home to read or do her homework. Amanda didn’t really notice the difference between herself and other teenage girls until she entered high school. That time in her life was extremely lonely and she felt terribly displaced, until she went to college.

At Duke University she’d blossomed. Everyone accepted her for who she was; a science nerd. She loved life back then. Looking back over at her beautiful little daughter, she realized Sammie had so much to look forward to, and her life was really just beginning.

Yes, her daughter definitely had a flare for decorating, but she was a procrastinator, and she needed some prodding, like now.

“Why don’t you get ready to head on down to the police station? Shower and do your hair, I know how long it takes you to fiddle with your hair, Goldilocks.” Amanda smiled when she called her daughter that pet name. Ever since Amanda could remember, Sammie would primp her pretty blond hair for hours. “I really won’t be long. The afternoon will be here in a blink of an eye, Sam, and it isn’t fun to have to scramble to get ready to go. So get moving.” Amanda playfully tugged on her daughter’s foot.

“Ugh,” Sammie grunted as she heaved herself up off the bed. Carefully book-marking her place in her latest read with a long white envelope, she turned and set in on her nightstand table. “Okay.”

The jagged handwriting caught Amanda’s eye. It looked like her ex-husband’s impatient-styled penmanship. Did her daughter miss Wayne more than realized? She rubbed her fingers over her forehead. Perhaps she should talk about him more with the kids; in a good light and bring up happy memories.

Sammie headed out of her bedroom and into the bathroom, then came to a halt and turned around to look at her. “I don’t think Ryder will be happy with this, Mom.”

“Oh, honey, please,” Amanda hugged her from behind. “Mr. Neurotic does not need to be so on guard. I’m sure this is all over the top. I am only going to find out what your father was working on. No biggy. I’ll just speak to the other scientist I know and head back home.”

“Mom, I do not think you should go alone. Ryder said . . .”

“Oh phooey,” Amanda cut her off. She was getting tired of having to answer to him all of the time. She was a grown woman for heaven’s sake! She had good judgment. “Just get ready sweetie, I’ll be home before you know it. Oh, and wake up Nickel will you? I’m worried he’ll be late as well.”

“Okay.” Sammie walked into the hall bathroom.

Now, time to deal with Mr. Ryder Stevenson. Amanda squared her shoulders and walked down the stairs. She knew he would do his darnedest to not let her go alone to the Institute, but he did it out of concern for her well-being. He had a certain honor code that clung to him like a spur. She giggled as she pictured the thorny spurs that grew on the plants around there. They stuck to a person like Velcro and it was hard to pull them away. Yep, that about sized up Ryder right there. She felt like she was falling a smidgen in love with him already. That thought brought her up short, causing her heart to quickly thud against her chest. How was that even possible when she just met him? Pushing off thoughts of Ryder, she focused on the next mission; to get to the Institute of Physics. Alone.

I will not let him bully me.

I will not let him intimidate me.

I will not let him browbeat me.

I will not let him bully me!

I am woman hear me growl.

Smiling faintly at that last line, she then straightened her expression to face the big, tough guy.

After she stepped onto the first floor, all was quiet. He must still be in the kitchen she thought when she didn’t see him in the family room. She peered around the kitchen doorway wanting to see what he was up to, so she could strategize on how to approach him. But there wasn’t any hunky six-foot ex-Army Ranger anywhere. Amanda stepped fully into her kitchen and looked inside her pantry then peeked through her window over her sink that over-looked her back yard. Nope, Ryder wasn’t in here anywhere.
Huh
. Not a soul around. Amanda did a walk through the entire first floor and no Ryder . . .

This was just too good to be true. She wouldn’t even have to tangle with him at all! She looked out her front window to see if his black Grand Cherokee was still parked there, and it was gone too. Well what is she to do now? Why did this crazy feeling of tiptoeing out of her own home and not telling Ryder where she going, feel so wrong?

She was woman hear her growl! Right? After all, she would be right back. Maybe not even an hour . . . So why did she feel so darn guilty? She shook off those chaotic feelings and walked to the garage door and flung it open.

Emancipation at last. Halleluiah!

She opened up the driver’s side of her new car, well new to her anyway. She still fumed at the fact that her beloved Honda went over the embankment and was totaled. Amanda ended up buying the silver sedan from the local used car dealership down Mercantile Street. It drove nice, but it still irked her that someone could get away with that random act of violence and she lost her nice white Honda. That last thought fueled her with fury and she pushed on the accelerator as she sped to her ex-husband’s last place of employment.

Wayne had been hired right out of Duke University graduate school to work at the premier cutting edge science facility. The Institute of Physics was always on some new project that was “Star Trek” like. She thought of the expression “Beam me up, Scottie” and realized how that aptly described their ventures and goals. They offered Amanda a position there too, but she decided to go to another firm. Verdant Manufacturing recruited her before she graduated, too. It was a great company, competitive-but not compulsively so like the Institute. She arranged her schedule and work hours any way she needed to, as long as she got her job done. Being allowed to set her own hours enabled her to be there for her children and that fact alone was invaluable while raising two children―pretty much on her own. And since Wayne wasn’t involved with them, she could still be available to take them and pick them up from school and be at certain school functions and sporting events.

Wayne. What in the devil got you killed?

She drew in a deep breath as she turned in to the entrance and looked head on into the green glass encased building that had at least fifty floors. She’d forgotten what an impressive structure it was. Amanda pursed her lips at how crowded the parking lot was and circled around the back looking for an open space, which meant they had plenty of techs in on a weekend day. So why were so many here on a Sunday for heaven’s sake?

Pulling open the main entrance door she closed her eyes, searching her memory for the floor Wayne’s office was on. Was it the twenty-fifth or thirty-fifth floor? Shoot, she couldn’t remember. Oh well, she’d have to ask the security guard at the main desk.

The huge black lobby desk took up the entire back wall and three men sat behind it. Only one looked up when she entered, the other two had phones pressed to their ears.

“Good day.” The young man smiled and stood up as she approached the ebony covered counter. “Can I help you with something, Miss?”

Amanda nodded. “Hi. Yes, I’m afraid I do need some help.” She hesitated. “My husband was Dr. Wayne Harris and I was hoping to get into his office.” A smidgen of guilt floated through her brain. Well, she did tell him the truth, but just didn’t qualify that Wayne was her husband
long ago
. This guy didn’t need details, such as they were divorced over a decade. Right? She actually felt a poke on her left shoulder from her little white angel perched there. She mulled over her obligation.

Isn’t that the true meaning of nebulous?
Was she destined for Hades for
not
divulging that tiny snippet of information? The little red devil to her right whacked her on her other shoulder saying
anything to get you in Wayne’s office, sista
. (Amanda swore she heard that―her little red eyes even winked at her).

I am going insane.

And to hell.

The younger man’s smile faltered. “Dr. Harris?” He looked around at the other two men beside him who spoke in low tones on the phones as if they could save him, but neither one looked up.

“Yes, I’m sorry, I probably should have called ahead and let Ginny Sullivan or Terrence Montgomery know I was on my way. It was a spur of the moment decision and I―”

Just to the left of the reception desk, the elevator doors slid open. A tall thin woman with white-blond hair and wire rim glasses walked into the lobby with her briefcase in hand as if to leave, but as soon as she noticed Amanda, she walked over to her, smiling.

“Amanda!” Giving her a quick hug she asked, “How are you?” Holding her out slightly, her gaze roved over her. “You are looking really well, Amanda dear. So what brings you to the Institute?”

“Ginny!” Amanda couldn’t believe how lucky she was to see Virginia Sullivan step out of the elevator. “Ginny, I am afraid I’ve made an impulsive decision this morning, I suppose I should have called ahead. I really don’t know what possessed me to drive over without telling someone.”

“What? What do you need Amanda?”

She pulled Ginny aside and spoke in a low tone. “I was hoping to get inside Wayne’s office. I need to look for something.” Amanda pulled her brows down and pleaded, “Please help me out, Ginny.”

“Of course, Amanda. You know I’ll do anything I can.” Ginny shifted her briefcase to her other hand. Putting an arm around her, she led her back up to the flustered man behind the counter.

“Richie, I’ll take full responsibility for Ms. Harris.” She handed the young clerk the badge she pulled out of her coat pocket. “Here, swipe it for me. Sign in Ms. Harris as my guest.”

Richie nodded with big eyes, doing exactly what Ginny asked. Relief clearly etched on his face.

“Thanks, Richie,” Virginia Sullivan said, shoving her Institute of Physics badge back in her pocket.

“Ladies.” He nodded to them both before Ginny directed Amanda over to the elevator.

“C’mon Amanda, I may even still have Wayne’s office key on my key ring or else it’s in my desk upstairs.” Ginny pushed on the thirty-fifth floor button and turned to look at Amanda confessing, “I must apologize for not calling you earlier Amanda. I heard about the car accident.”

Amanda glanced briefly at Ginny, a woman she had known for over fifteen years then looked out through the clear elevator windows that rose speedily, passing floor after floor at an alarming rate.

“Oh, Ginny, please don’t feel bad. That certainly was not the reason I showed up today.”

“I know, but still.” Ginny touched her arm. “I am sorry.”

Amanda smiled. “I’m doing good, really I am.”

“Like I said earlier, you look terrific. So you are doing good, I can see that.” The elevator dipped slightly and dinged as they landed on the thirty-fifth floor. When the doors slid open, Ginny waved Amanda to follow her. “Do you remember any of this? My God, how long has it been since you’ve been here?”