Page 26 of Diagnosis Attraction

“I know; it’s awful, but we have to leave. Now.”

“Where are we going?”

“I don’t know. Away.”

He grabbed her hand, and she felt the familiar jolt of sexual awareness. Struggling to ignore it, she let him lead her into the house, but she stopped short when she saw blood trailing toward the laundry room. Following it, she found Polly lying in a crumpled heap in the doorway, a pool of blood under her.

“We were just talking about garden gloves,” she whispered.

“I’m sorry,” was all he could offer.

The reality of everything that had happened in the past few minutes jolted her.

“Did she fight him?”

“I can’t tell.”

He turned toward the wall phone, picked up the receiver, and punched in 911.

“What is the nature of your emergency?”

“There’s been a murder at 2520 Wandering Way,” he said, giving Polly’s address.

“Stay on the line and ...”

He hung up. “We can’t stay around.”

“But ...”

“We have to be out of here when the cops arrive,” he said with conviction. Picking up a dish towel, he wiped off the phone.

“You bought some clothes. Where are they?”

“Bedroom.”

He strode down a short hall and returned with the bag from the discount department store.

“Let’s go.”

When she couldn’t manage to move, he took her hand again, leading her out the front door and down to a car parked at the curb. In the distance, she could hear the wail of a siren.

As they climbed into the sedan and drove away, Elizabeth looked back over her shoulder.

“She was a nice woman. She was just trying to help me, and look what happened to her.”

He made a rough sound. “It shows what kind of men we’re dealing with.”

“We?”

“I’m not going to let you face this alone.”

She felt overwhelmed by the conviction in his voice. She had known him for only a little over twenty-four hours, but he was acting like she was important to him.

Acting? No. Shewasimportant to him—just as he was to her.

There was something drawing them together, something they didn’t understand. But to figure out what it was, they had to stay alive.

“I thought I was in trouble,” she murmured. “I had no idea how much trouble.” She sucked in a breath and let it out. “And I dragged you and Polly into it with me.”

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