Lover Uncloaked (Stealth Guardians #1)

by Tina Folsom

  The first thing Aiden noticed when he entered the kitchen, followed by Manus, was that Leila’s face looked like she’d seen a ghost. The second thing he noticed was that her eyes were transfixed on the TV screen.

  He instantly followed her blank stare and focused in on the sound coming from the program.

  “ . . . no signs of the missing researcher. The police have not revealed whether Dr. Cruickshank is considered a suspect in the brutal murder of her boss, however, they have called her a person of interest, since she was the only other person in the building at the time of the murder besides the security guard.”

  The newswoman suddenly glanced to the side and listened to somebody off camera. A moment later, she looked back into the camera.

  “I am just being informed that the apartment Dr. Cruickshank lives at was gutted by fire earlier tonight. Fire investigators have not announced a conclusion as to the cause, but suspect arson. Whether these two incidences are related is unclear at this point. This is Deborah Winters, WOTK News.”

  Aiden walked to the TV and switched it off. He’d expected this, however, he’d hoped to prevent Leila from seeing this.

  “They think I did it,” she muttered as if talking to herself.

  “You don’t know that.”

  Her head shot up, and she stared at him. “They think I killed Patten. They’re looking for me.”

  “The press is just making assumptions. We know you didn’t do it.”

  “We, yes, but how about the police? How can I go back now?”

  Manus sat down next to her. “Listen, Leila, you can’t think about that now. It’s not important. What’s important is to keep you safe. Here, happy birthday.” He placed the small box of chocolates on the table in front of her. “Your favorites: dark chocolate truffles.”

  Did his fellow Stealth Guardian really think he could distract her with truffles?

  Her hand reached for the box, but she only stared at it without opening it. “Thanks.”

  “There’s something else we need to talk about,” Aiden started and took a tentative step closer to the table. After their earlier confrontation he thought it wise not to approach too closely. For all he knew, she could still scratch his eyes out. And he wouldn’t even blame her if she did.

  When she looked back at him, he suddenly noticed the tiredness in her eyes, as if resignation had set in. “What else is there to talk about? My life is practically over. Everything I’ve worked for . . . ”

  “I’m sorry,” Aiden replied, looking for a way to smoothly turn the conversation to what he needed to ask her. “But there are important things we need to figure out. And we need your help.”

  Manus patted her on her forearm, making Aiden want to hiss like a beast. “As much as I hate to agree with him, he’s right. There are a few things that don’t make sense.”

  “Like that there are demons in this world?” she mocked.

  Aiden shifted from one foot to the other. “No. Unfortunately that makes perfect sense. But we don’t understand why they want to kill you when they want what you have.”

  Leila raised her eyes and tossed him a inquisitive look.

  “The Fire Department believes that the fire that broke out in your apartment was arson.”

  “How? You were there. Wouldn’t you have seen if somebody had started a fire?”

  Aiden pushed the rising memory back, not wanting to be reminded right now how she’d looked lying in her bed. “It was an incendiary device, a little bomb, most likely with a timer on it.”

  “Oh my God! The demons did that?”

  Aiden scratched the back of his neck. “Actually, I’m not sure.”

  “Why not? You told me the demons are after me. And now you’re saying they’re not?”

  Manus lifted his hand. “That’s not what Aiden means. What’s strange is why the demons would kill you when they don’t have the formula for your drug or a sample of your drug in their hands yet. Don’t you see? Why kill the goose that lays the golden egg? You’re valuable to them. They wouldn’t kill you until they’ve gotten what they wanted.”

  “But then why did they kill Patten?”

  “I’m not sure they were the ones who killed him,” Aiden answered, drawing her gaze onto him. “Tell me something. We know that they didn’t get your drug’s formula because you’d already wiped the backup disk, and the data on the laptop was fried. But is there a chance that the demons could lay their hands on a sample of the actually serum?”

  Leila instantly shook her head. “Impossible. The clinical trials are conducted in Inter Pharma’s outpatient satellite clinic.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Well, normally clinical trials take place in clinics of hospitals and medical centers, but we wanted to maintain confidentiality and prevent any chance of our data leaking out. So we required the test subjects to come to our own clinic, where their doctors would administer the drug under our supervision. It was the only way to make sure that nobody else had any samples of the drug. We only gave them one dosage at a time and supervised its administration. Nobody could have taken a sample.”

  Her voice had taken on a calm and efficient tone, and he realized that she had slipped back into the skin she felt most comfortable in, the brilliant researcher.

  “And you’re sure there’s no other copy of the data anywhere?” He searched her eyes.

  Leila blinked, her fingers playing with her diamond studded pendant. “I’m sure.”

  Manus let out a long breath. “Then it doesn’t make sense that the demons would have tried to kill you. They still need you, because the only way for them to get at it now is for them to force you to reproduce it from memory.”

  His colleague was right. Which then invited another question. “What do you know about Jonathan?” Aiden asked.

  “Who?” Her eyebrows snapped together in confusion.

  “Your upstairs neighbor.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “What does Jonathan have to do with any of this?”

  “He planted the incendiary device.”

  “That’s impossible. He would never . . . he’s a nice guy.”

  Aiden shook his head. Humans could so easily be fooled by a friendly face. “He gave you a present for your birthday. The bomb must have been in there.”

  In disbelief, Leila moved her head from side to side. “But . . . but I don’t believe that.”

  Why was she so vehemently denying the obvious? Did she have any feelings for this guy?

  “He even told you not to open it before today.”

  “How . . . ?” She broke off, realization flooding her intelligent eyes. “You were watching even then.”

  There was no need to deny it.

  “It still doesn’t mean it was him. I’ve known him for over a year. Why would he suddenly try to kill me?”

  Manus drummed his fingers on the table, drawing his attention away from Leila. “Can we cut to the chase here?” When Leila looked at him, he continued, “According to the Fire Department, the fire started in the kitchen. Did you by any chance place the birthday present he gave you on the kitchen counter?”

  Leila’s blue eyes widened at the same time as her mouth fell open. Finally she accepted their suspicion. After a long pause, she closed her eyes, then looked back at them. “Why would he do that? He seemed so nice.”

  Manus shrugged. “We’ll find out. Somebody must have gotten to him.”

  “Unless he didn’t know what he was handing you,” Aiden added. “He’s human, I know that for sure. And if the demons didn’t influence him, which I don’t believe they did, somebody else could have used him, either with Jonathan’s knowledge or covertly.”

  “And Patten? He couldn’t have killed Patten too.”

  Aiden contemplated the idea for a moment. “Unlikely. To get into Inter Pharma’s building without being stopped by the Security Guard takes some skill. Somehow I doubt he’s capable of this. However—” He glanced at Manus. “—he needs to be checked out. Manus, f
ind out all you can about him: what he does, where he works, who he knows, who visited him in the last few days, who he’s met with—”

  “I know the drill,” Manus interrupted.

  “We need to find out who is behind this.”

  Manus rose. “I’m on it.”

  “And what about the police?” Leila gave him a questioning look.

  “What about them?” Aiden asked.

  “How are we going to tell them that I’m not involved? They have to know that I’m innocent.”

  He took a step toward her, cupping her shoulders with his hands. “They can’t find out where you are. Nobody can. We’ll arrange for our people to make it look like you died. You’ll be safest then.”

  “Died?” she croaked. “You can’t do that. My . . . my—”

  “It’s the best solution,” Manus piped behind him. “I’ll arrange it. We’ll get a body from the morgue that fits your description.”

  “Don’t forget the teeth,” Aiden cautioned.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll get a cast from her dentist and get our crew to work on the teeth of the body so they’ll match.”

  “What?” Leila gasped.

  Aiden looked back at her and found her staring at them in disbelief.

  “Yeah, you know,” Manus continued, “they’ll file down the teeth, make fillings where yours are. They’re experts in that. They can create a perfect match . . . ”

  “You can’t just . . . that’s not . . . but . . . ” Tears brimmed in her eyes, ready to burst to the surface once more.

  “Do it,” Aiden commanded his friend without taking his eyes off Leila.

  A panicked look suddenly crossed her face when his second headed for the door. Was she worried about being alone with him again? Or simply worried about what Manus was going to do? Whatever it was, she pushed away from him, making him drop his hold on her shoulders.

  “Oh, almost forgot.” Manus turned back to face him. “I brought you a less conspicuous car. I’m afraid your sports car will stick out like a sore thumb if you’re trying to make a fast getaway.”

  Aiden nodded. He was aware of that, which meant he rarely ever got to drive his fancy ride. It barely had five thousand miles on it, and he’d owned it for two years already. He patted his jeans pockets for the key, and realized that they were empty.

  “My keys are in the room.” He looked at Leila. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  He turned and followed Manus out of the kitchen.

  ***

  Leila pushed the tears back and tried to control the trembling of her hands, but the knowledge of what the two Stealth Guardians were planning made her blood freeze in her veins. They were trying to make everybody believe she was dead.

  Her parents would be devastated once they found out. Despite the fact that they were both suffering from Alzheimer’s, their minds were still clear enough to recognize her on their good days and know who she was. If they saw the news on TV, they would break down. She couldn’t cause her parents such unnecessary pain. It would be cruel.

  She had to warn them and tell them not to believe anything they heard on TV. Telling the caretaker not to let them watch TV wouldn’t be enough. It was their pastime. Nothing could keep them from that box that provided them with entertainment in their monotonous lives. Besides, the newspapers would print the story too. There were too many ways they could find out the terrible news. Hell, the neighbors would stop by with condolence cards and flowers.

  Leila glanced at the clock on the coffee maker and hoped it wasn’t too late already. With some luck, the caregiver was just getting them up and hadn’t mentioned anything to them about her disappearance yet. That alone could cause her father’s heart to stutter and her mother’s blood pressure to spike.

  Knowing she couldn’t go back to the room to get her cell phone from her bag, she glanced around the kitchen. A landline telephone was attached to the wall next to the fridge. She had to make a quick decision. Aiden would be back shortly. It was now or never.

  Casting a glance over her shoulder, she took the phone off the hook and punched in the number. With one ear she listened to the ringing on the other end, with the other to any sounds coming from the hallway. Three rings, four. If nobody picked up, the answering machine would kick in in a moment.

  “Hello?”

  Leila breathed a sigh of relief when she recognized the low voice on the other end. “Mom, it’s Leila.”

  “Hello?” she responded.

  “Mom, can you hear me? It’s Leila,” she repeated a fraction louder, wondering whether her mother’s hearing aid was on.

  “Oh, hello. Now I can hear you.”

  Her heart made an excited salto. Her mother sounded clear as a bell. Maybe this was one of her good days.

  “It’s Leila, mom,” she repeated, just for good measure.

  “Good morning, Leila.”

  “It’s so good to hear your voice. Listen, mom, I don’t have much time, but I want you to know something.” She paused to make sure her mother had understood her.

  “Go on, I always like to talk. Nancy is such a sourpuss some days. She rarely chats.”

  Well, she’d take Nancy, the caretaker, to task some other day, but now she had more important things to do.

  “Mom, you’re going to see stuff on TV about me. They’ll say that I disappeared, or even that I died. But don’t believe any of it. I’m fine. Everything’s fine.” Hell, who was she kidding? “I just have to go away for a few days. There are things happening at work that I can’t explain right now. Do you understand that?”

  “Of course, dear. You have to go away.”

  “Yes, mom. But I don’t want you and dad to worry about me. I’m safe where I am. Nothing can happen to me. I just worry about you and dad.”

  “There’s no need to worry about us. We’re fine.”

  It was a relief to hear her say that.

  “And don’t worry about Nancy. When I’m back, I’ll tell her to sit down more often and chat with you, so you don’t feel too lonely.”

  “Who feels lonely, dear?” her mother replied.

  Had she not just seconds earlier complained about Nancy not chatting with her? “But, you said Nancy . . . ”

  “Nancy!” her mother suddenly called, sounding more distant as if she was holding the phone away from her mouth.

  “Yes, Ellie?” Leila recognized the caretaker’s voice in the background.

  “There’s somebody who wants to talk to you.”

  “No, mom,” she tried to stop her, but her mother clearly didn’t hear her.

  “Who is it?”

  “Oh, it’s the neighbor’s girl. I think she’s a little loopy in the head.”

  Oh, no! Her mother hadn’t recognized her. “Mom!” she shouted into the phone.

  “Nancy will call you back later.”

  Then there was a click in the line, and the call was disconnected. Shocked, she let the receiver slide back onto the cradle. It hadn’t been one of her mother’s good days. She hadn’t really heard a single word Leila had told her.

  She felt like screaming out her frustration. Gripping the receiver once more, she knew she had to try again. Maybe this time Nancy would pick up and she could explain everything to her. Oh, God, she hoped so.

  Her hand froze on the receiver when she heard the door handle being turned.

  TWENTY

  Aiden hesitated before opening the kitchen door. How would Leila react to him now that their buffer, Manus, was gone? It turned out that he didn’t have to worry about it. When he opened the door, she was still staring at the TV, watching the same news program. He knew enough about her to realize that it wouldn’t make her feel any better, so he walked to the TV and switched it off.

  “You should rest.”

  To his surprise, she nodded and didn’t protest when he ushered her back to their room. Aiden closed the shades to make it more comfortable for Leila to sleep while the sun was shining brightly outside. She now lay curled up on the bed—fu
lly clothed this time. It appeared she didn’t want him touching her ever again.

  Frustrated and feeling more than just a little bit guilty about his earlier deception, he lay stretched out on the couch, knowing his presence in the bed wasn’t welcome. This fact did nothing to quell his growing desire for her. Neither did thinking about her for hours while she slept only feet away from him.

  When Coralee delivered food to the room sometime well past midday, Aiden placed the tray on the coffee table and opened the shades before walking to the bed. Leila looked vulnerable with her eyes closed, her hair open and spread around her like a halo. He felt the urge to take her into his arms, to protect her and assure her that she would be safe. But he couldn’t do that. Neither did she want his touch, nor would he be telling the truth if he told her she was safe. She would only be safe once he and his fellow Stealth Guardians could trick the demons into thinking that she was dead and with her all chances of recreating the drug.

  Even once they’d achieved that, they would have to keep tabs on her. And she would have to assume a new identity, as if she were in the federal witness protection program. It was no different from that. But they needed her cooperation for that, which meant Aiden had to start mending what he’d screwed up. The quicker the better.

  “Leila,” he called softly, but she didn’t stir. He tried again, but received no response, so he gently shook her shoulder.

  She reared up with a frightened look on her face and wriggled away from him. “What do you want?”

  He instantly pulled back, giving her space so she wouldn’t perceive him as a threat. “I want to apologize.” Nervously, he ran a hand through his hair, messing it up even more than it already was. “I shouldn’t have . . . ” His voice died. Hell, he’d never learned how to apologize to anybody. This was harder than fighting two demons in a dark alley with one hand tied behind his back.

  Her ocean blue eyes lowered to evade his gaze. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Did he imagine it, or was a soft, rosy blush building on her cheeks? Oddly enough, it didn’t appear that she was angry at him, despite her words. It look more like she was . . . shy. The confident, determined Dr. Cruickshank was shy when it came to intimacy? Could that be the reason why she’d reacted so vehemently when they’d been interrupted by Manus?