Page 48 of Diagnosis Attraction

But you saw it?

Yes. I’m pretty sure I snuck up on it.

Let’s go back there.

They both closed their eyes, and he pressed his cheek to hers, flooding power into her the way he had learned to do it. Forlong moments, he felt her frustration until a picture of a large dwelling formed in her mind.

It was a Victorian mansion with three floors, a wide front porch, and a newer wing on either side. It was painted a tasteful beige with darker trim. On one side, he saw a paved lot where several high-end cars were parked. A brick path led from the lot to the front door. And the grounds around the house were nicely landscaped with azaleas, dogwoods, redbuds, and other typical local greenery.

That’s it?

Yes. You’d never dream it was anything but a pretty rural residence.She gave a harsh laugh.Or maybe an upscale bed and breakfast.

How did you get close?

I waited until it was dark, then parked down the road and came through the woods.

You didn’t get inside?

No. But I looked in the widows.

She stayed with the scene, and he got more than visual effects. From inside the house, he heard soft jazz drifting toward him. It was accompanied by another picture that came to him of young pretty women wearing dressing gowns. Some were standing, others sitting in a luxuriously furnished room where men in sports shirts and slacks relaxed with drinks.

One of the men stood and held out his hand to a blonde woman. She swallowed hard, then got up and walked ahead of him out of the room. He saw the man caress her bottom through her gown, saw her wince, andthen caught a glimpse of the couple climbing the stairs before they disappeared from sight.

He picked up the disgust in Elizabeth’s memory as she backed away from the house and hurried across the neatly trimmed lawn. Turning around, she looked at the building again and froze. For the first time, she spotted a security camera shehadn’t seen earlier. With a little gasp, she ran for the woods at the side of the house. But they both knew it was already too late.

“They must have seen you,” he said aloud.

“Yes. I guess I wasn’t thinking about cameras when I sneaked onto the grounds. I only wanted to make sure that Sabrina was telling the truth.”

She made a soft moaning sound. “Oh, Lord, and I thought I was being so careful.”

“Go back to the scene,” he said.

He felt her resistance. She didn’t want to go anywhere near the upscale prison where young women were being forced to service men who were willing to pay for the pleasure, but she did it because they were trying to save the women. Her head lay on his shoulder, but her mind flashed back to the Victorian, and he saw it from her point of view as she ran frantically back into the darkened woods. It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the gloom, and she ran into a patch of brambles that tore at her clothing.

She wrenched herself away and veered to the left as she kept running, madly trying to put distance between herself and the house. Now, he heard the sounds of heavy footsteps crashing through the underbrush after her.

“There she is.”

“Don’t let her get away.”

Fear leaped inside her and kept her running as fast as she could. When a root snagged her foot, she almost crashed to the ground but caught herself against a tree and kept moving. She was breathing hard when she reached her car, opened the door with the remote, and threw herself inside.

She gunned the engine, sped out of the woods, skidding as she turned right, then hurtled down the road, but they both knew she hadn’t been in the clear.

When he felt her trembling, he soothed her.

“It’s okay.

“I made a mess of that.”

“No. You got a look at the bordello—at what was going on in there.”

Silently, he asked her to go back to the vision once again. She tossed her head from side to side, hating to revisit the scene.

I think we can get theinformation we need.

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