Page 42 of Diagnosis Attraction

Matt tensed as the footsteps came closer, his attention divided between Elizabeth and the invaders. In his mind, he could see her climbing out the window and dropping down to the narrow space between her house and the one next door.

When he knew she was outside, he breathed out a small sigh. She was safely out of the house, but he knew the man who had killed Polly Kramer wouldn’t hesitate to do the same to Matthew Delano.

“We know you’re in there,” one of the thugs called out. “Come out with your hands up, and you won’t be hurt.”

Oh sure.

Could they really know he was in here? Or were they guessing? Apparently, they didn’t remember there was a back way out of the room. But Matt couldn’t just run for it. If they came through the door, they could catch him on the way out and drill him in the back.

To give himself a few extra seconds, Matt fired through the doorway.

Curses rang behind him as he ducked into the area in back of the file cabinets.

One of the men in the hall fired an answering shot through the door.

Matt reached the window and was thankful that Elizabeth had pushed it open farther. Climbing halfway out, he returned fire before hurling himself through the opening.

He wasn’t surprised to find Elizabeth waiting for him on the ground. Even without reading her thoughts, he knew she wasn’t going to take off and leave him there.

Thank God.Her exclamation of relief rang in his head as he pressed his shoulder to hers.

He didn’t waste his breath or his mental energy upbraiding her for staying in the path of danger. Instead, he focused on the window, knowing she was following his thoughts and lending him power. When a head appeared above them, Matt hurled a bolt of energy at the man, who made a wheezing sound and dropped back inside.

Come on.

With Elizabeth right behind him, Matt ran down the narrow side passage, then climbed over the waist-high fence between the two houses, reaching to help her over.

They sprinted through the yard, through the back gate, and down the alley.

No shots followed, presumably because the guys weren’t going to take a chance on a gun battle outdoors in a residential neighborhood. Or maybe they were worried about Matt’s secret weapon.

But he and Elizabeth weren’t exactly home free. Before they’d reached the end of the alley, a police siren sounded in the distance.

“Someone must have heard the shooting in your house,” he said as he slowed his pace, walking at normal speed toward his car.

Moments later, they were inside the vehicle and on their way out of the neighborhood, leaving the cops and the thugs behind them.

Elizabeth sat rigidly in her seat, and Matt knew what was in her mind. He was torn between putting distance between themselves and her house and the reassurance they both needed.

He turned onto a side street, made another turn, and pulled up under a low-hanging maple tree that partially hid them from the street.

When he cut the engine, she turned to him with a little sob that was part relief and part frustration. He slid his seat back and reached for her, pulling her into his armsand holding tight as he ran his hands over her back and shoulders, thankful that they had both made it out of her house alive.

Her apology rang in his mind.

I’m so sorry. You said it was too dangerous to go there.

But I also said we had to do it. We both knew it was necessary.

They almost caught us.

But they didn’t.

As they silently spoke, she brought her mouth to his for a frantic kiss. And his response was no less emotional. If they hadn’t been on a public street, he knew they would have been tearing each other’s clothing off in the next moment and making frenzied love.

But out here in the car in a residential neighborhood, all they could do was cling together, rocking in each other’s arms, kissing and touching and silently proclaiming how glad they were that they’d found each other and how relieved they were that they’d escaped from Derek Lang’s men.

The name jolted through both of them. He knew that the heightened emotions of the moment had made it pop into Elizabeth’s head. But he also knew from her thoughts that she was sure it was right. He was the man who’d sent the thugs after her—when she’d crashed her car, later at Polly Kramer’s house, and now. She looked at Matt, and he caught the swell of victory pounding through her.

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