They both got into the car, and Matt drove off, thankful that nobody was shooting at them.
I’m hoping life isn’t going to be a series of narrow escapes,
she whispered in his mind.
We’ll be a lot safer when Lang is out of the picture.
Chapter Eleven
Tony Verrazano rolled to his back trying to figure out where he was and what had happened to him.
He was outside. Yeah. He’d been on patrol at The Mansion.
But now he was lying on the hard ground with his head aching like a son of a bitch. His gun was in his hand, and he didn’t remember drawing it. In fact, he couldn’t call up any memories from the past few minutes.
How had he gotten here?
He struggled to pull anything recent into his mind, but nothing would come to him. In a panic, he sat up too quickly and winced at the stab of pain. After checking the safety on the gun, he stuffed it into his shoulder holster, then pulled up his knees and clasped his hands around his legs. Pressing his cheek to his knees, he ordered himself not to start shaking.
Something frightening had happened, and he didn’t know what it was. Worse, he didn’t even know how he’d gotten here. Yeah, he’d thought that before, hadn’t he?
Still clenching his hands around his legs—he carefully went back to the last thing he did remember. He’d had a meal in the kitchen of the whorehouse where Lang kept the girls he’d imported from Eastern Europe. Then he’d gone out on patrol.
He’d been walking the ground, and something must have happened to him.
But what?
Had he seen something in the woods? Gone in here to have a look? And then what?
Nothing like this had ever happened to him before, and he struggled to tamp down the fear coursing through him.
Should he tell someone? What if an intruder had invaded the property? Like the woman who had been here a week ago. She was still on the loose, and the boss had ordered all the guards to be extravigilant.
But he didn’t think she was here now. Or at least he didn’t want it to be true. He got up and brushed off his clothing, feeling a lot of dirt on the back of his pants, like he’d been dragged into the trees. Could that be true?
Fear trickled down the back of his spine as he scrambled to come up with an alternative scenario. Maybe he’d been investigating something in the woods, tripped over a tree root in the dark, fallen down, hit his head and knocked himself out.
Clumsy of him.
Well, he wasn’t going to say anything about it and risk getting fired from what he considered a very good job.
* * *
“N
OW
WHAT
?” E
LIZABETH
asked as they put distance between themselves and The Mansion.
“We shut the place down.”
“I hate the idea of letting that house of horrors operate for even the rest of today, but there’s another reason we can’t just go to the police. Those women are in the U.S. illegally. Probably they’ll all be deported if we just call the cops.”
“Yeah, even if they were brought here under false pretenses, they could be caught in the system.”
She sighed. “I wish I knew more about it. I don’t want to get them deported because I’m trying to help them.” She thought for a moment. “Maybe my best bet is going back to Sabrina and seeing if there’s some way her friends in Baltimore can shelter them.”
He made a rough sound. “We’re getting ourselves in deeper every time we turn around.”
“I know. But I want those women out of there—then to find a way to destroy Lang’s whole operation.”
“That’s a tall order. How long has he been in business?”
“I don’t know exactly.” She gave him a pleading look. “I realize this whole thing is a mess, but I want to see it through. Not just for me. Polly died because I was stalking Lang.”
Relief flooded through her when he said, “Okay.”
“I think we have to go find Sabrina.”
He tightened his hands on the wheel.
She put her fingers on his arm, and she knew she didn’t have to speak out loud for him to pick up what was in her mind. He turned off onto a two-lane road and slowed, finding a clearing where he could pull off the blacktop.
“You want to talk about how we’re going to work it when we go back to the house?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“What was your original plan?”
She flung her arm in frustration. “I wish I knew. Probably I hadn’t come up with anything definite, which was why I hadn’t acted.”
“But you’re thinking about something that might help.”
She grinned. “You read me so well.”
When he’d cut the engine, she unbuckled her seat belt and leaned toward him. Reaching for her, he pulled her close. They clung together, both of them thankful that they’d gotten away from The Mansion.
She pulled away so she could look at him.
What if we have a technique we can use?
He knew she was thinking about a book she’d read—about a girl whose parents had been part of a government drug experiment in college. The people who survived came away with superpowers. For example, the girl’s father had been able to influence the actions of others.
Did you read it?
she asked.
Yes. It’s by Stephen King.
In the book, the father called his power “giving people a push”—influencing their actions and perceptions.
And you think we can do that? Isn’t that a little grandiose?
he asked.
We won’t know until we try it.
“We’d have to practice to make sure we could do it,” he said.
“Of course.”
“Who do we practice on?”
“I don’t know yet.”
He switched topics and asked, “Do you know the part of Baltimore where you met with Sabrina?”
“Yes. I think that’s where I was going when I crashed my car.” She gave him directions, and they drove back to the city.
“But you don’t know exactly where to find Sabrina,” he said as they got closer to the right part of town.
“I think I only knew her through Wendy—the woman who adopted a child and was one of my clients.”
“Then we’ll start there.”
They drove to a neighborhood of typical Baltimore row houses, some with brick fronts and some faced with a man-made material that was supposed to resemble stone but looked more like something from a kid’s construction set. Elizabeth had always wondered why anyone would want to put that stuff on a home.
“You know which house?” he asked.
“No. But I think I’ll recognize it when I see it.”
He drove up and down several blocks, and she scanned the facades, looking for some kind of clue.
Finally she saw a house with a planter full of geraniums beside the marble steps. “That’s it!”
Matt found a parking space around the corner, and they walked back, then climbed the steps.
After ringing the bell, Elizabeth waited with her heart pounding because she didn’t know what the woman inside looked like, but she was pretty sure she’d recognize her when she saw her.
The door opened, and Wendy stood on the other side of the storm door, an expression on her face that was a mixture of astonishment and anger.
“You said you’d come back days ago,” she accused. “Where have you been? We’ve been waiting and worrying. I called social services, and they said you had...disappeared.”
Elizabeth swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. Can we come in?”
Wendy looked like she was about to refuse.
Matt pressed his shoulder to Elizabeth’s, and she suddenly knew that he was going to use the technique they’d discussed
. Don’t turn Elizabeth away. She had a good reason for not coming.
Elizabeth fought to keep her gaze on Wendy. They’d only speculated about trying this, and Matt doing it now had taken her completely by surprise. But had it worked? Especially since she hadn’t even thought about giving him extra power.
“Is there a good reason why you didn’t come back?” Wendy asked.
“She was in the hospital. I’m her doctor.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Wendy said. “You’d better come in.”
They both stepped directly into a small living room with a bay window that looked onto the street. The room was cluttered with toys. When Wendy knelt to sweep some blocks into a pile, Elizabeth bent down also to help her, remembering the little girl who was so lucky to be living here.
“How’s Olivia?” she asked.
“She’s doing great. She’s already in bed.”
Elizabeth picked up a floppy stuffed rabbit from the sofa and stroked it. “I remember this room,” she said.
“What do you mean?” Wendy asked.
“I had amnesia. That’s why I didn’t come back. Matt—Dr. Delano is helping me recover my memories.”
“Oh, you poor thing,” Wendy said. “Where are my manners? Please sit down.”
Elizabeth and Matt sat together on the couch. Wendy looked at Matt, then Elizabeth, then back again. “You look more like her lover than her doctor.”
Elizabeth flushed at the directness of the statement.
“We’ve gotten to know each other pretty well,” Matt said. “Elizabeth was on the way here, to your meeting, when she was in an automobile accident.”
“I didn’t know.”
“She was banged up, but the main problem was the amnesia. It took a while for us to put you and your friend Sabrina back into the picture.”
Wendy nodded.
“We’ve been working on her memories, and she finally recalled enough to come here.”
Again Wendy nodded cautiously.
“But there are things we can’t piece together.”
“Like what?”
“Sabrina said that friends of hers are being held at a house owned by....”
Wendy glanced toward the door, like she expected thugs to come charging in. “Derek Lang,” she whispered.
“Yes. I didn’t know how much I’d told you,” Elizabeth said.
“A lot of it. Not everything.”
“We need to talk to Sabrina.”
Once again, they met resistance.
“I don’t know,” Wendy said. “It was hard enough for her to come here the first time. That Lang man is dangerous.”
“Believe me, I know,” Elizabeth murmured as she gripped the floppy rabbit she was still holding.
Beside her, Elizabeth heard Matt’s silent suggestion.
Why don’t we try again to influence her?
All right.
She looked at Wendy. “I’m really sorry that I couldn’t get back here sooner. Just now, Matt and I went out to the property and confirmed that the women are there. We need Sabrina’s help to get them somewhere safe.”
“You mean to the shelter where she is now?”
“Yes.” Elizabeth had forgotten that Sabrina had hooked up with a secret welfare organization that was willing to take in illegal aliens. Thankful that problem had been solved, she silently urged Wendy,
Get up and call Sabrina. Tell her that I’ve come back, that I was in an accident, that I had amnesia and couldn’t make it here sooner.
She felt Matt adding power to help her project the unspoken message. Her pulse was pounding as she waited to find out what would happen. After a few seconds, she saw Wendy’s face change.
“I guess it’s not your fault that you didn’t meet up with us.”
This time it was Matt who sent the message. As soon as she heard it, Elizabeth sent him power to help project the suggestion.
Yes, that’s right. Tell Sabrina to come right over. Tell her we need to speak to her.
Wendy stood up. “Let me go phone her.”
“Thank you,” Elizabeth answered.
We got her to change her mind,
she said to Matt.
But we don’t know how effective we were. All we know is what she did. She could have made the decision on her own.
But she was reluctant to even let us come in before you...pushed her.
We’ll see.
* * *
H
AROLD
G
ODDARD
HADN
’
T
forgotten about Matthew Delano. He had a service checking for any mention of the man’s name—in print or on the internet—and so far it was like the doctor had disappeared off the face of the earth. Harold would have liked to think that no news was good news. In this case, he couldn’t convince himself it was true.
So he kept checking and waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like what was going on with the woman named Jane Doe? Who was she really? He had a pretty good idea. Not her specific name. But he wouldn’t be at all surprised to find out that her mother had been treated at the Solomon Clinic.
There was no proof of that yet, but he was willing to bet there would be.
And if there was one thing Harold didn’t like, it was losing control of a situation. He’d deliberately thrown other couples together so he could watch what happened. Now he was pretty sure two others had gotten together on their own, and there was no telling where they were or what they would do. But he had the feeling he’d better be prepared for trouble.
Chapter Twelve
Matt and Elizabeth sat tensely on the sofa, waiting for Wendy to return. Elizabeth wanted to get up and follow her down the hall, but she suspected that the woman had deliberately left the room to give herself some privacy.
Too bad we can’t amplify hearing,
Matt murmured inside her head.
She answered with a small nod.
Their tension mounted with every minute Wendy was away, and Elizabeth started imagining all sorts of scenarios—like Derek Lang walking in the front door.
But finally Wendy returned with a cautious smile on her face.
“Sabrina’s coming over.”
Just then, a wailing cry from upstairs made Elizabeth jump.
“That’s Olivia,” Wendy said, “probably telling me that she needs her diaper changed.”
She departed again, but this time Elizabeth felt relieved. They’d cleared one hurdle.
Ten minutes later Wendy was back, holding a one-year-old girl.
“Do you remember Miss Elizabeth?” she asked.
The little girl pointed to Elizabeth. When her mother set her down on the floor, she crawled toward the sofa and pulled herself up, grabbing on to Elizabeth’s knee to steady herself.
“I’ll be right back with a bottle,” her mother said.
Elizabeth offered the little girl the bunny, and she snatched it away, hugging it.
This was familiar and bringing back more memories. She remembered that Wendy was a good mother—and willing to help the women who’d ended up in Derek Lang’s clutches.
When Wendy returned, she unfolded the playpen by the window and set her daughter inside.
Olivia lay on her back, kicking her feet in the air as she held the bottle and sucked. Elizabeth watched the baby, thinking how sweet she was. But was she bringing danger to this family just by being in this house?
Lang doesn’t know we’re here,
Matt said, and Elizabeth knew he’d caught the drift of her thoughts.
We should get out as soon as possible.
When the back door opened, she jumped, but she relaxed when she saw Sabrina striding down the hall. She was a woman of medium height, with short blond hair and cautious eyes. She looked delicate, but obviously had inner strength—and the courage and determination to get herself out of a bad situation.
When she spoke, it was with the thick accent Elizabeth remembered. But the words were not what Elizabeth had expected to hear.
“Are you the woman who was staying with that nurse when she was murdered?”
Elizabeth sucked in a sharp breath. “How do you know about that?”
“It was all over the news. And Wendy said that you claimed you had amnesia.”
“I didn’t claim. It’s true.”
“You’re not just saying it to get out of helping us?”
Beside her Elizabeth could feel Matt sending the newcomer soothing thoughts.
It’s all right. You were expecting Elizabeth to help you. You were scared and angry when she didn’t come back. But now she’s here, and she’s going to help you like she promised.
Elizabeth saw Sabrina relax fractionally.
“I’m sorry I left you in the lurch,” Elizabeth said.
“But you were staying with that nurse?”
“Yes. Are you going to call the police and tell them where I am? If they drag me into the investigation of Polly’s death, then I won’t be able to help you get your friends away from Lang.”
Sabrina answered with a small nod.
“Lang’s men were chasing me the day I was supposed to meet you. That’s why I crashed my car, hit my head and ended up with amnesia. I couldn’t meet you because I didn’t remember anything.”
Sabrina struggled to hold back a sob. “I waited for hours.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I thought you’d changed your mind. Or...or you were too scared to do it.”
“No. I still wasn’t sure how to get in there, but now I have a plan,” she said.
She knew Matt caught her thoughts when his hand closed around her arm. “No,” he said.
“Can you think of anything better?” she asked.
After long seconds she felt his acquiescence and looked back at Sabrina. “Matt’s going to get in there by pretending to be a customer. And I’m going to slip in the back way and mingle with the women. While Matt keeps the men away, I’ll get the women out.”
“You wanted to shut down his operation,” Sabrina pointed out.
Elizabeth nodded. “I don’t know if we can go that far. But we can rescue the girls who are there. And after everybody’s out, we can burn the house down. That will set him back while we figure out the next step.”
Sabrina looked torn. “I want him in jail for what he’s done to me and the others.”
“I do too, but it might not be possible.” She changed the subject. “And you have that secret welfare organization ready to take them in and hide them until they can get new identities?”
“Yes.” She turned her gaze on Elizabeth. “Can we go get my friends tonight?”
“It’s better if we have everything planned. You need to get the welfare group ready with transportation, and Matt and I need to rehearse our roles,” she answered.
Sabrina’s expression turned fierce. “You want me to get a rescue operation organized tomorrow. How do I know that you’re not going to disappear again?”
Elizabeth felt her heart squeeze. “I can’t absolutely guarantee what’s going to happen tomorrow night,” she said. “But Matt and I plan to be there.”
It was the best she could do, and she let out a sigh of relief when Sabrina nodded. “Where are we going to meet? How are we going to do it?”
Elizabeth hadn’t thought about all the details, and because this woman was pressing her, she felt like the room was closing in on her.
Matt gave Sabrina an angry look. “I know you’re worried about your friends, and I know you’re anxious to get them out of Lang’s clutches, but Elizabeth has already been through a lot because she committed herself to helping them. She’s almost gotten killed more than once.”
As he spoke aloud, Elizabeth knew he was sending Sabrina a soundless message.
Don’t lean on Elizabeth. She’s doing everything she can. She’ll be ready tomorrow night. All you have to do is have a van ready to take your friends away from The Mansion.
She saw Sabrina take a breath and let it out. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I know I’m not making this any easier for you.”
“It’s okay,” Elizabeth managed to say, then cleared her throat. “I told you that I had a memory loss when I crashed my car and everything hasn’t come back to me yet.”
Sabrina nodded.
“I need to ask you some questions. You might have answered them before, but I don’t remember some details.”
“I’ll answer what I can.”
“There are men at The Mansion who act as guards, but who is it that greets guests?”
“Mrs. Vivian.”
“Where will she be?”
“Probably mingling with guests. She might also be near the door.”
“I saw men eating and drinking.”
“The Mansion orders a lot of prepared food. And the bar is always stocked.”
“Is there any place the women aren’t allowed to go?”
“They usually stay in the front.”
“I’ll be dressed like one of the women, but I’ll probably have to come in through the kitchen.”
“You could say you were getting a snack for a patron.”
“Okay.”
“How many bedrooms?” Matt asked.
“Eight.”
“So each girl doesn’t have her own room?”
“No. They bunk together, and use the nice bedrooms for entertaining guests.”
“How many women will be there?” Matt asked.
“Twelve to fifteen.”
They discussed more of the layout, before Elizabeth asked, “Will there be a problem getting the women to come with me?”
Sabrina’s brow wrinkled as she considered the question. “Mention my name, and tell them I sent you to get them out.”
“But there could be women you don’t know.”
And one of them could give her away, Elizabeth was thinking, but she didn’t say it aloud because she didn’t want to make it sound like she was coming up with objections.
“Are there guards inside the house?” she asked.
“In a guard station down the hall from the kitchen. They watch TV screens there.”
The monitors for the cameras,
Matt said.
Yes.
Finally she knew that she’d gotten all the information she could before actually going into The Mansion.
“We should leave now,” Matt said. “Can you give me the address of the shelter where you’re going to take the women?”
Sabrina gave him an address several blocks away.
“We’ll meet there at seven tomorrow night,” he said, then stepped to the door and scanned the street. When he saw nothing suspicious, he ushered Elizabeth out.
They walked around the corner to his car, and she dropped into the passenger seat.
“Thank God I’ve got you,” she whispered. “How did I ever think I could do this myself?”
“You had the courage to do it, but you didn’t count on the lengths Lang would take to get you out of the way.”
“Stupid of me.”
“Of course not.”
“I guess I didn’t realize how ruthless he is.”
“Because your background and training make you think about helping people—not hurting them.”
When she started to speak, he leaned over and pressed his lips to hers.
But you do have me,
he said.
And we’ll do it together.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into the kiss.
They embraced for long moments, and she thought again how lucky she was to have found this man who was strong and determined—with the survival skills she lacked.
She knew he heard that when he smiled against her mouth.
I’m so open to you,
she silently murmured.
Likewise.
When she caught the thought in his mind, her breath stilled.
I love you.
Oh, Matt.
You had to know it was true.
But I never expected it—not ever in my life. I was always so alone.
And you know I was, too.
“I love you,” she said aloud, knowing there was no need to speak. But she wanted to say the words because they were important to her.
She would have been overwhelmed by happiness, yet she couldn’t allow herself that joy. Not yet. “We have a job to do,” she whispered.
“And when we’re finished, we can figure out what we’re going to do for the rest of our lives.”
“It will be easier if we can prove we had nothing to do with Polly’s death,” she said.
“I’m hoping that we can get evidence after we take care of Lang.” He pulled away from the curb, heading for the motel.
“We still have to practice the skills we’re going to need to pull off the rescue operation at The Mansion.”
“And it’s not going to be as easy as persuading two women who wanted to believe our story.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call Sabrina easy,” she argued. “She was upset—and that made her angry with me.”
“But I want to work on a person who isn’t involved with us, and get him to do something totally against their best interests. Like in a restaurant.”
She caught what was in his mind. “Is that fair?”
“This is love and war. And it’s not like we’re robbing a bank.”
She understood his logic, but she still didn’t like what he was planning.
When they returned to the vicinity of the motel, Matt drove around the restaurant area, looking for a place that was a cut above the fast-food restaurants with drive-in windows. He found a small Italian restaurant that didn’t appear to be part of a chain.
“Do you want to do try and influence the counter men, or should I?” he asked.
“In this case, I think a guy will be more persuasive. If you can do it at all.”
“Just give me some psychic energy.”
They walked into the dining room, which had a central aisle and tables on either side. Framed scenes of Italy decorated the stuccoed walls. At the back was a counter with a menu above it. Two young men with short dark hair wearing white uniforms were behind the counter.
“Help you?” one of the men asked.
Matt studied the menu, and Elizabeth felt him getting ready to tell a whopper. “We have one of your certificates for a free meal,” he said.
“We don’t...” The man stopped in midsentence, looking confused.
Elizabeth could hear Matthew furiously projecting false information.
You believe me. I have a certificate that gives me a thirty-dollar free meal. It’s a new offer, and I’m the first customer to cash it in.
He opened his wallet, took out a business card he’d gotten from a colleague and held it up. “See, here’s my certificate.”
And you don’t need to take it away. You just need to look at it,
he added without saying anything aloud.
Elizabeth held her breath as she waited to find out what would happen. Giving away food was so clearly against the restaurant’s best interests that it seemed impossible that the guy would go along with Matt’s suggestion.
The counterman eyed the card and nodded. “I am not familiar with it, but I guess it’s okay—since you got this thing.”
She could feel Matt relax a little as he turned to her. “What do you want, honey?”
She looked at the food that had already been prepared. “A calzone would be good.”
“Make it two,” Matt said. “And add a couple of sodas.”
While the man was packing up the order, Matt made a silent suggestion.
We haven’t spent near thirty dollars. Why don’t you suggest that we take a couple cannolis?
His audacity took Elizabeth’s breath away, but she stood without speaking beside him, waiting to see if it worked.
“You haven’t used the whole thirty dollars. How about two cannolis for dessert?” the counterman asked.
“Great idea,” Matt agreed.
Elizabeth shot him a look as she waited for the man to come to his senses, but he cheerfully packed up the food and drinks and handed over the bag.
“Thanks,” Matt said as they strolled out.
Elizabeth was in more of a hurry and had to keep herself from running to the car.
Once inside, she breathed out a deep sigh. “I guess if we ran out of money, we could work as con artists.”