DIAGNOSIS: ATTRACTION (12 page)

“It’s only a temporary necessity—I hope. I mean until we get out from under the Lang problem and clear our names.”

As they drove back to the motel, she could hear ideas flashing in Matt’s mind. He was thinking about the next evening’s raid on The Mansion.

But as soon as they entered the room and closed the door, he set the food down on the table and reached for her.

She came into his arms with a small sob.

“I’m sorry. I know you hate all this. You don’t like stealing food, and you don’t like the plans I’m making.”

“I’d like to forget about them right now,” she said.

He lowered his mouth to hers for a kiss that told her that he’d been wanting to be alone with her for hours.

She wiped everything from her mind but the feel of him, the taste, the emotions running wild between them. And when he pulled back the spread and took her down to the surface of the bed, she held on to him, then rolled far enough away so that she could tear off her slacks and panties.

He was doing something similar, only his pants didn’t come all the way off. She pushed the sides of the zipper away and pulled his briefs down, freeing his erection. With his legs trapped, they didn’t have many options. She straddled him, bringing him inside her before she began to move in a frantic rhythm that brought them both to climax almost immediately.

She collapsed on top of him, and his arms came up to fold her close.

As they clung together, he whispered, “It’s going to be all right.”

“We’ll be walking into danger.”

He asked the question she’d asked before. “Can you think of a better plan?”

Of course she couldn’t. She hadn’t been able to do that in the first place. And now the moment of reckoning was coming all too fast.

“We should eat before the food gets cold.”

“Eat our ill-gotten gains?”

“Uh-huh.”

“We should pay for it.”

“We’ll send the restaurant some money—when this is all over and we have access to our bank accounts.”

“If it’s ever all over.” She gave him a fierce look. Tomorrow they were going to do their damnedest to take care of Lang’s operation.

“Then on to the next problem,” he said. They both knew that was solving the puzzle of how they’d ended up with powers that had only become accessible when they’d touched each other.

Chapter Thirteen

Derek Lang balled his hands into fists, then ordered himself to relax. It seemed like Elizabeth Forester had dropped off the face of the earth. It could be that she’d cut her losses and cleared out of town, but he wouldn’t bet on it.

When he’d figured out that she was poking into his business, he had started digging up everything he could about the nosy bitch. One thing he knew was that she was persistent. Once she got a notion in her head, she wasn’t going to let it go. Which meant that he’d better be prepared for whatever she had in mind.

He called in Gary Southwell, noting the way the man fought to hide his case of nerves.

“Did you get a report from The Mansion?” Derek asked.

“Yes. Everything’s normal out there, except one of the cameras malfunctioned.”

“Why?”

“We don’t know.”

“There’s no chance someone could have tampered with it?”

“Not unless they climbed up on the roof.”

“Who was on duty at the time?”

Southwell named several men, including Tony Verrazano.

“Any of them report anything unusual?”

“No, sir.”

“Well, I want everyone extra-alert.”

* * *

E
LIZABETH
AND
M
ATT
spent the day preparing for their invasion of The Mansion. After breakfast they both went to a local department store where Elizabeth bought a negligee like the ones she’d seen the women wearing. None of them had been wearing underwear. But because she hated the idea of walking around in a gown so revealing, she also purchased a chemise she could wear underneath.

Matt bought a sport coat and slacks on sale, an outfit that would make him look like the bordello’s upscale patrons.

“We’d better stop at a drugstore,” she said when they were finished with the clothes shopping. “I need some cosmetics, or I’m going to look out of place in there.”

She’d already bought gray eye shadow and lipstick. She added foundation, eyeliner, blusher and mascara, going for products that weren’t too expensive and hoping she’d be able to apply them artfully.

She and Matt brought lunch back to the motel room and spent the next few hours discussing various scenarios, but it was clear they could only go so far with the plans. Neither one of them knew exactly what was going to happen when they arrived at the bordello, and all they could do was outline several contingencies—which basically involved Matt keeping the management busy at the front of the house while she got the women out the back.

“How are you going to get away?” she asked.

“The same way I got in.”

“You may need me to reinforce the messages you’re sending. I can...”

He gave her a grim look. “Once you get the women out of there, you will not go back in.”

She knew she had to agree, and she worked hard to keep him from realizing that she might not be able to keep her word.

“Get some sleep,” he told her as she paced the motel room.

“I don’t know if I can.”

He closed the drapes, then lay down in the bed with her, cradling her in his arms.

They were both too keyed up to sleep, but it was a comfort to have him hold her.

Finally it was time to start getting ready.

“We should eat. I’ll get more burgers and shakes.”

“This isn’t exactly a healthy diet.”

“But it will have to do for now.”

When he came back with the food, Elizabeth could barely choke any down. Finally she gave up, changed into the chemise and gown she’d bought and went into the bathroom to start playing with the cosmetics.

She began with foundation, then went on to lipstick, eyeliner, blusher and eye shadow. Standing back, she studied the effect, astonished at how different she looked. Then she finished it off with two applications of mascara.

When she came out, Matt did a double take.

“Wow.”

“You like the effect?”

“You know I do.” He eyed the gown. “I guess you fixed it so you can’t see through it.”

“I hope so.”

She slipped her feet into mules, then reached for the light raincoat she’d bought.

Glad it was already getting dark, she crossed to the car and got in. And then they were on their way to the rendezvous spot.

When they arrived, Sabrina was pacing back and forth, looking anxious. As they pulled up, she visibly relaxed.

“I wasn’t sure you’d come.”

“I understand, but I had no intention of backing out,” Elizabeth answered.

Sabrina introduced them to a woman named Brenda who worked at the shelter.

“Thank you for doing this,” she said. “We can give them a safe harbor once they come to us, but we’re an underground organization, and we can’t call attention to ourselves.”

“I know that,” Elizabeth answered. “But we’ll get them to safety.”

Brenda nodded, and Elizabeth wondered if the woman thought she could really pull this off.

As it turned out, Brenda was part of the operation. She would drive the van, and Sabrina would come along to help calm the women and keep order.

Matt would have to go in his own car because he’d be arriving at the front door like any normal customer.

She saw the tension on his face and knew he was worried about her. “I’ll be okay.”

“Just be careful.” He turned to Sabrina. “Can you give the names of some of the men who...you were with in the house?”

“I don’t know any of their last names.”

“Give me some first names.”

“There was Harry. Another one was Martin.”

“Okay. I can use that. And you said the woman who runs the place is Mrs. Vivian.”

“Yes.”

“Then we’re all set,” he said, projecting confidence. He turned back to Elizabeth. “See you soon.”

She gave him a fierce hug before climbing into the van. She could still feel his worry as Brenda drove away, and she kept up the connection with him as long as she could. When it snapped off, she clenched her fists, feeling suddenly very alone. She had gotten used to reaching for his mind, and now the connection had been cut off. But she’d get it again, she told herself. He’d be following in his car, and he’d arrive twenty minutes after she did.

She refocused her attention on her current reality.

“Don’t head straight for the house,” she told Brenda. “Drive past, and I’ll show you where to park.”

She directed Brenda up a dirt road into the woods to the place she and Matt had used when they came to check out The Mansion.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Sabrina asked.

“I appreciate the offer,” Elizabeth told her. “But I think you should stay at the edge of the woods. That way, I’ll be alone and less conspicuous.”

She saw relief flood Sabrina’s features. Although she knew the other woman had been prepared to go in if necessary, she also knew that the worst experiences of her life had taken place in that house. And the idea of stepping back into The Mansion terrified her. Elizabeth also knew Sabrina would have done it if Elizabeth had asked.

They made their way through the darkened woods, using the lights from the house as a beacon and circling around so that they were opposite the kitchen door.

Elizabeth and Matt had discussed how to handle the cameras. They’d already disabled one, and doing it again might put the security staff on alert. They’d decided her best bet was to keep her head down and walk to the back door. She wouldn’t be visible until she was close, and hopefully anyone watching would think one of the girls had just slipped outside for a minute.

She watched for the guards she and Matt had seen. Just after one walked across the lawn between her and house, she strode across the lawn and made it to the back stoop, where she stood shaking, waiting for someone to burst outside and grab her. After more than a minute had passed, she breathed out a little sigh.

She’d gotten this far without any problems, but now came the real test.

Cautiously she tiptoed to the window beside the back door and looked in. A man who was probably one of the security staff was in the kitchen helping himself to food from the refrigerator, and she waited with her heart pounding while he loaded a plate.

Don’t sit down at the kitchen table,
she told him over and over.
Take the food where you’ll be more comfortable.

Her breath was shallow as she waited to see what he would do. He stood in the kitchen for endless seconds, holding the plate, before finally walking out of the room with the food.

When he was gone, she remembered to breathe again. She wanted to get this over with, yet she was glad that she’d had a little more time before she had to go in there.

She turned the knob and pushed the door open, then stepped inside and quietly closed it behind her.

Taking a few steps forward, she looked for the back stairs that Sabrina had told her about. She also saw a short hallway and knew it led to the guard station. She didn’t want to go there, but it had to be a priority.

“Get it over with,” she ordered herself, then crossed to the hallway and tiptoed farther into the house. At the end of the hall, she could see a small room with monitors flickering. The man who’d gotten the food was sitting with his back to her, looking at screens showing various views of the grounds. The plate was on a table beside him. Apparently he’d left his post and hadn’t been looking at the monitors when she’d crossed the lawn.

Gathering her power, she sent a beam of energy to the back of his head, holding it as long as she could, hoping she’d put him in a coma.

Because tying him up would be too suspicious, she left him there and headed back toward the steps. She paused at the top, getting her bearings.

From the shadows where she stood, she saw a middle-aged man and a young brunette woman step out of a bedroom, and she pressed herself against the wall. But the guy wasn’t paying any attention to her. His attention was focused on his companion.

He gave her a familiar pat on the rear, then strode to the front steps. The brunette was achingly young looking, and Elizabeth could only imagine what the poor girl had been through since leaving her own country.

She stood staring after her customer, a resigned expression on her face, then glanced up as Elizabeth hurried toward her.

Her expression turned to one of surprise as she stared at the woman who had materialized in the hallway.

“Who are you? Are you new here? Did you come in with another shipment?” she asked in heavily accented English.

“No. I’m helping Sabrina. I’m a social worker from Baltimore, and I met her there. I told her I’d come back here for the rest of you.”

The statement was met with astonishment. “We haven’t seen Sabrina in months.”

“She’s fine.”

“Truly?”

“Yes. She and I worked out a plan to get the rest of you away from this place.”

Fear and uncertainty flooded the woman’s face. “You can’t get us out of the house. We’re guarded.”

“Sabrina got out. You can too,” Elizabeth answered, silently projecting the idea that escape from this hellhole was possible. “What’s your name?”

“Maria.”

“I’m Elizabeth.”

“You’re sure we can get away? And they won’t kill us?” she asked in a shaky voice, her accent thickening with her mixed emotions.

“Yes. Do you know how many...guests are in the house?”

“Not many. It’s still early.”

“I need your help, Maria,” Elizabeth said, projecting calm and certainty. “We need to get the other girls together.”

Hope warred with fear on the woman’s face. “Yes, all right. But some of them are downstairs, waiting for patrons.”

“Get the ones up here together,” Elizabeth said, knowing that they would have to wait for Matt to arrive to complete the mission.

* * *

M
ATT
PULLED
INTO
the long drive and headed for the parking spaces at the front of The Mansion. There were only a couple cars already on site, and he was glad there wouldn’t be too many civilians to deal with.

He got out, straightened his jacket and walked confidently to the front door, where he rang the bell.

After a few seconds, a nice-looking middle-aged woman opened the door. She was the woman he’d seen through the window when they were here the day before. Tonight she was wearing a beaded black dress and stylish pumps. She tipped her head to the side as she stared at him, obviously wondering who he was and how he’d gotten there.

“May I help you?”

“Mrs. Vivian?”

“Yes,” she answered cautiously.

“I’m a friend of Harry’s. He highly recommended this place if I wanted some relaxation.”

“Harry who?”

“Harry,” he repeated
as he projected silent messages toward her.
I’m a friend of Harry. You trust Harry, and you trust me. You’re so happy to have a new customer. You’re glad Harry referred me. Let me in.

He saw Mrs. Vivian wavering and poured on the reassuring messages.

“Come in,” she finally said.

He stepped into the front hall, which was furnished with expensive-looking antiques. The hostess led him from there into an opulently furnished parlor. The rug on the polished wood floor was a palace-sized Oriental. The tables and chests were classic period pieces, and the sofas and chairs were comfortably modern.

“Harry told you our fees?” Mrs. Vivian murmured.

“Yes.”

“You pay in advance.”

“That’s fine.”

Five young women wearing negligees much like the one Elizabeth had donned were standing at one side of the room. They had been in various relaxed poses. When they saw him, they straightened, all of them arching their backs so that their breasts were thrust toward him.

So how did guys behave when they got here? Did they take some time to relax, or did they get right to business? Too bad he didn’t have any experience with high-class bordellos. Or sex for hire.

He walked toward them, pretending he was trying to decide which one he wanted.

Unfortunately he couldn’t just take all of them upstairs with him and disappear out the back way.

“What are your names?” he asked, stalling for time until he knew Elizabeth had gotten the first group out of the house.