Page 63 of Diagnosis Attraction

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

Sabrina eyed her outfit and makeup. “Nobody would take you for a social worker now.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“If you like looking sexy.”

“I like it,” Matt broke into the exchange.

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

“Thank you for doing this,” she said. “We can house them 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 car because he’d arrive 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. Turning back to Elizabeth, he said, “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 the connection with him as long as possible. When it snapped off, she clenched her fists, feeling suddenly very alone. She had gotten used to reading 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’d come on their reconnaissance mission.

“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. She 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.

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