Page 72 of Diagnosis Attraction

We couldn’t influence Lang.

His will was too strong. These guys are just hired help.

“Here goes nothing,” Matt muttered as he swiped a hand over his wet faceandthen stepped toward the door.

“This is Derek Lang. Cease fire,” he called out. “I have to get these women out of here.” He reinforced the words with a silent command, broadcasting the message to the guards outside, and Elizabeth did her best to help, lending him power.

For a long moment, nothing happened, and then someone called, “Mr. Lang?”

“Yes. We’re coming out.”

Elizabeth’s heart was in her throat as Matt stepped out, still sending the voiceless message. She continued to help him, praying that the men outside would believe the illusion he was projecting—and that the women behind them wouldn’t question what was happening.

Matt stepped out onto the porch, then turned and gestured to her and the others. “Come on.”

At first, nobody moved. But then, a crackling sound on the stairs behind them made them jump. Like the back stairs, the front ones were not protected by the sprinkler system and were burning.

Still projecting to the men outside, Matt walked down the porch steps, and the women followed, with Elizabeth ushering them along.

Then she saw something that made her catch her breath. Figures moved behind the line of men on the lawn. And as she watched, Sabrina and some other women sprang from the shadows, moving in unison. Each of them carried a club made from tree branches. Some brought the makeshift weapons down on the heads of the guards who had kept them from escaping. Others clubbed them as they went down, whacking them on the backs and shoulders. The men didn’t have time to fire as they succumbed to the brutal attack from the women who had turned the tables on them.

Matt rushed forward, grabbing automatic weapons from one of the men and then another. Elizabeth snatched up the third gun.

“Get them to the van,” Matt shouted as he stood and covered the women’s escape. “You too,” he told Elizabeth.

This time she wasn’t willing to go along with his plan. She waited with him.

When one of the guards started to get up, Matt shot at the ground in front of the man, and they all went still. She and Matt backed away. As they got to the trees, they turned and ran.

Elizabeth led the way to the van. The shelter had brought blankets in case the women needed them, and it was definitely true now. Matt, Elizabeth and the other women who had gotten showered wrapped themselves in the coverings.

Matt turned to Elizabeth. “I have to get my car. I’ll meet you at the shelter.”

She didn’t want to separate from him, but she knew they had to. He gave her hand a squeeze, but Brenda said, “We gotta get out of here.”

Reluctantly, she watched Matt head for his vehicle.

Brenda drove around to the road, and as they went past The Mansion’s driveway, they could see that the sprinklers had put out most of the fire, but smoke still poured into the sky.

“I guess The Mansion’s going to need a lot of rehab,” Elizabeth said. “But who’s gonna do it with Derek Lang out of the picture?”

“What happened to him?” Sabrina asked.

“One of his own men shot him,” Elizabeth said, not explaining that she was the one who had made the voiceless suggestion. And she wasn’t completely sure how she felt about that.

“I didn’t think you could do it,” Sabrina said. She gulped. Now it looks like you were going to rescue my friends or die trying.”

There were murmurs of agreement around the van.

“I’m so sorry I doubted you. Thank you so much for what you did.”

“I’m just sorry it took so long to get everyone out,” Elizabeth answered.

They pulled up behind the shelter, and the women poured out. They all went inside, and the director, a woman named Donna Martinson, came up to them.

“I can’t thank you enough for mounting that rescue operation,” she said.

Elizabeth looked down at the blanket and flimsy wet gown she was wearing. “Actually, there is something you can do. I’d like to dry off and put on something more suitable,” she said.

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