DIAGNOSIS: ATTRACTION

by Rebecca York

  When he raised his hand and waved at her, she breathed out a little sigh of relief. In the next second, she saw his expression change to one of horror.

  Before she could figure out what was wrong, a hand closed over her shoulder.

  “Move and I’ll shoot you in the kneecap,” a harsh voice said.

  * * *

  RACHEL HARPER STOOD frozen in the living room of her cottage at the Lafayette plantation. When the door burst open, she whirled as Stephanie Swift charged through the door. Craig Branson was right behind her. They were both products of Dr. Solomon’s illegal experiments.

  A few months earlier, Stephanie had been trapped into an engagement to a man named John Reynard, a criminal who’d insinuated himself into New Orleans society. Then she’d met Craig Branson and had known she was about to make a horrible mistake by going through with that marriage.

  When Reynard had whisked Stephanie away to his heavily fortified plantation, Craig had followed.

  Rachel and Jake had helped them escape from Reynard’s men—and also from thugs sent by someone else. And now they were all at the plantation owned by Gabriella Boudreaux, who was paired with Luke Buckley.

  “It’s the same man who was after me and Craig,” Stephanie gasped as they rushed into Rachel’s cottage.

  “You saw what just happened?”

  “Yes.” She flushed. “I mean, I knew you were upset. You were broadcasting it like a television cop show.”

  They were followed very quickly by Gabriella and Luke.

  Rachel turned as her husband, Jake Harper, came into the room.

  “What’s happening, exactly?” he asked.

  “I wasn’t sure what was going on until now,” Rachel breathed. “That other couple—Elizabeth and Matt—are from Baltimore. It’s a long story, but they found a man burglarizing Elizabeth’s house and got from him that he was hired by someone in New Orleans. They’d already started doing research on the Solomon Clinic and went to Houma. They found the same nursing home we did and talked to Maven. But thugs were waiting for them when they came out.”

  “They just grabbed Elizabeth,” Stephanie added. “And they’re wearing some kind of protective helmets.”

  “Helmets?” Jake asked. “Why?”

  “Because they know we have mental powers, and the helmets must have some kind of lining that blocks us,” Stephanie said.

  Jake swore under his breath.

  “We have to go there,” Stephanie said. “We have to help them.”

  The men looked doubtful.

  Rachel swung toward the other women, exchanging silent messages before focusing on Jake. “You guys may not be coming, but we have to go to Houma.”

  “If you think we’re letting the three of you go there alone, you’re crazy,” Jake said.

  “Is that a sexist opinion?” she asked.

  “It’s the opinion of a man who loves his wife and doesn’t want to send her into danger.”

  “But we have to go,” Stephanie answered.

  Jake apparently knew when he was outvoted. “We’ll take the van. And we’ll make plans on the way. It’s almost a two-hour drive.”

  “Will we be in time?” Stephanie asked.

  “We can only pray we will be,” Rachel answered.

  Rachel’s gaze turned inward as she tuned in on the scene in Houma.

  Jake heard her gasp. What?

  Maybe it’s already too late, she said.

  * * *

  MATT STARED IN HORROR as one of the helmeted men reached for Elizabeth and pulled her against his body in a parody of an embrace.

  “We’ve got your girlfriend,” he called out. “If you don’t want to see her get shot, you’d better come back here.”

  Stay away. Don’t do it, he heard Elizabeth shouting in his mind. But how could he leave her with the men?

  We’ll think of something.

  But what? He tried sending a mental suggestion to the man who held Elizabeth. Let her go. You don’t want to hold her. Let her go. But the silent order had no effect.

  Matt wanted to spit out a string of curses, but that wasn’t going to do him any good. He understood the problem. The man knew what he and Elizabeth could do, and he was wearing that football helmet thing to block any messages Matt and Elizabeth might try to send him.

  But the two of them could still communicate with each other. And although they knew a mental command wasn’t going to make her captor turn her loose, there might be another way.

  “Why do you want us?” he called out.

  “It’s just a job for me.”

  “Then let us go.”

  “No way. Turn yourself in if you don’t want something bad to happen to her.”

  I’m going to look like I’m giving up, he said to Elizabeth. When I get about ten feet from you, act like you’re going to faint.

  Okay.

  Matt’s gaze flicked to the left and right. At any moment, the other thug could show up, and that would create a problem he might not be able to overcome.

  His heart was pounding so hard that he could barely breathe as he started back the way he’d come.

  Chapter Twenty

  Matt saw the tension on Elizabeth’s face. He imagined that his own expression was just as grim.

  As he walked, he gathered his energy, and he felt Elizabeth preparing to aid him. He might not be able to reach the man’s mind, but that wasn’t his only option.

  He was about twenty feet from her captor when he silently shouted, Now.

  Elizabeth went limp, as if the frightening situation had made her legs give out. The man scrambled to get control of her, but part of his attention had to stay on Matt. With only a small window of opportunity before the guy was in contact with her again, Matt shot out a jolt of energy, hitting him in the shoulder.

  He yelped and reared back.

  Elizabeth regained her footing immediately and dodged to the side, giving Matt another shot at the man.

  The guy bellowed and went down. Elizabeth kicked him in the face, marveling at her new attitude toward violence. When he stilled, she bent to get the gun and took it out of his hands.

  Do we keep this? she asked as she drew up beside Matt. He wanted to reach for her, but there was no time for anything but escape.

  I’ll take it.

  He clicked the safety on and tucked the weapon into the waistband of his slacks.

  The two of them ran for the scraggly underbrush, disappearing into the trees. But a shout followed them, and Matt knew that the other man had seen where they went.

  No, not just one man. There were two others now.

  One stopped by their fallen comrade. The other stayed behind Matt and Elizabeth.

  * * *

  STEPHANIE TURNED TO Rachel. “Are you following what’s happening?”

  “Yes. They got away from the bad guys, but armed men are chasing them alongside the bayou.”

  Frustration bubbled inside Stephanie. She’d been in a similar situation not so long ago.

  Craig put a hand on her arm, trying to calm her.

  “Is there anything we can do?” she asked.

  “We can try.” Rachel closed her eyes, her face a study in concentration as the two other women reached out to touch her. Stephanie felt Rachel trying to direct a surge of power toward the pursuers to at least slow them down, but at this distance, the task was impossible.

  “We have to get closer.” Rachel said.

  She looked toward Jake, but everybody in the van already knew he was driving at a dangerous speed.

  “We can’t fly. And we aren’t going to be any use to them if we crash,” he muttered.

  * * *

  MATT AND ELIZABETH plunged farther into the wilderness area, dodgin
g around cypress, tupelo trees and saw palmettos. They splashed through areas of standing water, mud clinging to their shoes and making it almost impossible to run.

  Both of them were breathing hard, and he wondered how long they could sustain the pace. But they had to keep going because behind them he could hear the men getting closer, making no attempt to hide their progress through the underbrush.

  Elizabeth looked back in panic, then pointed to their right. If we go farther into the swamp, maybe they won’t follow.

  We can try.

  Matt veered off in the direction she’d suggested, and they worked their way farther into the dense foliage.

  When the sounds of the pursuers grew louder, they both went completely still.

  “Where the hell did they disappear?” one of the men said.

  Sounds like three men. The one who captured me must have joined the others again.

  “You beat the bushes around here. We’ll keep going. Widen the search.”

  They’re splitting up.

  Maybe that’s good. Maybe we can take at least one of them out.

  He thought of a plan, telling Elizabeth what he had in mind.

  He could feel her uncertainty but also her determination.

  He took up a position behind a tree, and she moved into a patch of low bushes.

  “Matt,” she called out. “Matt, I’m stuck. Help me.”

  Two of the men were too far away to hear her. The other stopped at once, reversing direction and moving cautiously toward the spot where she was standing.

  Matt tensed, waiting for the guy to get closer.

  “All right,” the thug called out. “I see you. Come out with your hands up.”

  Elizabeth moaned. “My foot’s stuck.”

  The man took a few careful steps closer, and Matt struck, sending out a bolt that hit him squarely in the center of the chest. He went down, and they both crouched over him.

  Matt removed the football helmet and inspected the inside. There was some kind of heavy foil lining, and he laughed out loud.

  “What?”

  “You know some paranoid mental patients think aluminum foil will protect them from outside influences probing their brains? Apparently it works—at least when we’re the ones doing the probing.”

  The man was stirring. When he reached up and found that his helmet was gone, he gasped.

  “Who are you? Why are you after us?” Matt asked.

  “Following orders.”

  “Who wants us? And why?”

  “I’m just doing a job,” he said, repeating what the other guy had said.

  “And why are you wearing a helmet?”

  “The boss said to.”

  “Why?”

  He looked away. “He said you had some kind of mind control rays.”

  Oh, great.

  Too bad we can’t read minds, Elizabeth said.

  Too bad he doesn’t have more information. But we can’t waste a lot of time on him. The others could come back. He bent to the man. Stop looking for us. Go back to your car. Drive away.

  The man looked confused.

  Go on. Get out of here, before the man and woman do something worse to you.

  The man gave them a panicked look. Pushing himself up, he began running back the way he’d come as if the devil were after him.

  When he was out of sight, Matt and Elizabeth moved farther into the swamp. Ahead of them, Matt saw one of the bayous that cut through the area. They could run along the edge, or they could plunge in—which might or might not be a good idea, depending on whether an alligator was waiting to scoop them up.

  In the distance, he saw a pier sticking out into the brown water. A couple boats were moored there.

  Elizabeth followed his thoughts, and they both ran for the dock.

  Behind them they could hear running feet. When a bullet whizzed past them, Matt whirled and returned fire, making the attackers duck into the underbrush.

  That gave them a little time, but he knew he and Elizabeth would be sitting ducks when they went out onto the dock.

  He slowed, trying to make a decision. I’m going first.

  That didn’t work out so well last time.

  What’s your suggestion?

  We go into the water on the other side of the dock and climb into one of the boats.

  Risky. But may be our only option. You go in. I’ll hold them off.

  They reached the pier, and both ducked to the other side. He took up a position at the end near the shore, ready to stop the bad guys from coming closer. Elizabeth went into the water, swimming along the pier where she was sheltered from the men who were coming cautiously through the trees.

  From behind the cover of the dock, Matt got off a couple shots at the pursuers, making them think twice about coming closer. But the standoff couldn’t last forever. There were still two pursuers left, and Matt had only the ammunition in the one weapon.

  As he kept part of his focus on the men, he also followed Elizabeth’s progress. She made it to one of the crafts, a speedboat with an inboard motor.

  This one?

  He answered in the affirmative, wishing he knew more about boats. But they had to get out of a bad situation, and the vessel seemed to be their best alternative.

  Can you get in it?

  I hope so.

  It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but making it from the water into the boat was easier said than done. As she tried to heave herself over the side, he waited with his breath shallow in his lungs, wishing he could swim over and boost her up. But he had to stay where he was, holding off the pursuers.

  * * *

  ELIZABETH STRUGGLED TO pull herself inside, but it was clear that the side of the craft was too high for her to scramble over from her position in the water. Her only alternative was to set the boat rocking from side to side. When it was almost dipping into the water, she finally flopped over the gunwale, onto the bench seats, banging her hip and shoulder as she came down.

  Wet and dripping, she lay there for a few moments, struggling to pull her thoughts together.

  Now what?

  You have to start it.

  She began searching around, looking for a key. It wasn’t under the dashboard, and it wasn’t in any of the compartments around the craft.

  Zap it. Like I zapped the door lock in the basement of The Mansion.

  This is a little different.

  She made a low sound, but began studying the controls, and Matt directed her to the starter.

  She focused on it, giving it a mental jolt, then another. Nothing happened, and she thought they might have to abandon the craft and go to plan B—which was swimming across the bayou and disappearing into the swamp beyond—if they could make it across without getting shot before an alligator ate them.

  When she was about to give up hope of starting the boat, the engine coughed, then sprang to life.

  Good work.

  * * *

  TO KEEP THE THUGS from rushing forward, Matt got off a couple more shots. Then the gun clicked and he knew he was out of bullets. Abandoning his position at the side of the dock, he leaped up on the boards. As soon as he made a run up the boat, the bad guys started shooting. He ducked low, and he heard a gasp behind him. In his mind’s eye, he saw what was happening. Elizabeth had turned and was hurling bolts of power at the men, pushing them out of range, giving him time to untie the boat from the piling and leap inside.

  Elizabeth watched him jump aboard, then turned back to the wheel. As she pulled away, the men started shooting again. He and Elizabeth bent low, making themselves as small a target as possible while the craft roared up the bayou.

  Matt looked back at the two men. One of them seemed to be in charge and was giving orders t
o the other. He pointed toward another motorboat moored nearby, and they ran to the vessel and jumped in.

  Matt was pretty sure they weren’t going to make the engine turn over with their minds. But it seemed they didn’t need to. When he heard the craft start, he muttered a curse. Either they knew where to find the key or they had lucked out.

  He cursed again as the boat took off after them, and it became clear very quickly that the other craft was more powerful.

  “They’re gaining on us. What are we going to do?” she shouted. “Can we goose up the engine?”

  “I don’t know.”

  He focused on the motor, trying to force it to put out more speed, but the maneuver didn’t seem to be working, and all they could do was keep going.

  The men in the boat behind them kept firing their guns, the shots becoming more accurate the closer they got. Bullets whizzed past, and some struck the hull. Matt looked down, seeing water rising in the bottom of the boat. They were sinking.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “We have to bail out,” he said. “Then dive below the surface and swim toward shore.”

  “No, wait.” Elizabeth pointed toward a blue van that had turned onto the road beside the bayou and was racing along, keeping pace with the two boats.

  He gave her a questioning look.

  “It’s them.”

  “Who?”

  “The woman I told you about. The one who was probing my mind.”

  “Is that good or bad?”

  “I don’t know.”

  From the van, a voice zinged toward them. We’re here to help. We’re going to blow up the other boat. Add your energy to ours.

  Matt still couldn’t be sure that the people in the van were on their side, but he knew for sure that the men in the other boat were closing in for the kill.

  He looked toward the van, trying to see who was inside. Someone slid a window open, and he saw several people.

  With a little prayer that he was making the right move, he fed power to the woman in the van.

  He felt her building energy, and then a beam of tremendous force shot from the van to the pursuing boat.