Page 66 of Diagnosis Attraction

When she reached for his mind, she found him and breathed out a sigh of relief.

Everything okay?he asked.

Yes. I’m going to take a bunch of women down the back stairs and into the kitchen. If the coast is clear, I’ll send them to Sabrina. She’s waiting at the edge of the woods.

There are five women down here. I’ll see if I can get them to the back of the house.

She broke off the voiceless conversation with Matt as Maria hurried back with six more women. Some looked frightened. Others looked doubtful.

“Everything’s going to be all right. We’ll go down the back stairs. The way I came up,” she said.

She debated whether to get them dressed in something more suitable for the outside, then decided that the better alternative was to get them away from the house as quickly as possible.

She put a finger to her lips in the universal symbol for quiet, then led the way down the stairs, pausing at the bottom to make sure that none of the guards had come back to get a snack.

The coast was clear, and she motioned for the others to follow.

The women peered around fearfully as they stepped into the kitchen, all of them looking like they expected a slave master to materialize out of nowhere and punish them for being downstairs.

It’s all right. Everything’s all right. You’re perfectly safe. You’re going to get away from here,Elizabeth kept assuring them. At the back door, she repeated the procedure she’d used when she’d arrived, waiting for a guard to pass. As soon as he had disappeared around the corner of the house, she opened the door and pointed toward the section of trees straight back from the door.

“Nobody is watching the video monitors. Sabrina is over there waiting for you. Go to her. She’ll get you to the van.”

The first woman cautiously stepped outside and started across the lawn. The rest followed, and Elizabeth watched them go. She breathed a small sigh as she saw them make it to the shelter of the trees. From the shadows, Sabrina waved, and Elizabeth waved back.

Now they just had to get the women out of the parlor, and they’d be home free.

She turned and made her way toward the front of the house and stopped short when she saw Matt.

I’m here,she said.

I’m going to tell Mrs. Vivian that I’d like to take this group of women into the kitchen.

Will that work?

She’s been completely cooperative so far.

But that could be problematic.

We’ll see.

She heard Matt switch his mental attention to the hostess.

I love cooking. I’m taking the girls into the kitchen for some treats.

“What?” the woman said aloud.

“We’re just going back to the kitchen to whip up some brownies,” Matt said, madly projecting the message to Mrs. Vivian that what he was doing was perfectly normal.

“Come on,” he said to the women.

None of them moved.

You get them to come with you out the back door. I’ll keep Mrs. Vivian in line until you tell me they’ve all reached the woods.

They had just started across the room when Matt heard a car pull up in the parking area.

Damn. It would have been better if they hadn’t had to deal with another guest.

---