DIAGNOSIS: ATTRACTION by REBECCA YORK Page A

the board when an unwelcome noise made them both go still.
    In the quiet of the house, they heard the front door open.

Chapter Nine
    Matt froze. He’d known all along that coming to Elizabeth’s place was taking a chance, but he’d also been desperate to help her get more information about herself. Now it appeared that they’d run out of luck. He looked at Elizabeth, seeing the terror on her face—and also the anger. These guys kept coming after her like a relentless robot killer in a science-fiction movie, and now one or more of them were in the house with them.
    Stealthy footsteps crept slowly down the hall.
    What are we going to do? Elizabeth asked.
    Get out the escape hatch.
    Thank God you thought of one.
    He ushered Elizabeth behind him. Climb out the window.
    What about you?
    I’ll block them, then follow. Head for the car.
    He knew she wanted to argue about the hastily conceived plan, but she silently acknowledged there was no alternative.
    Stepping around the filing cabinets, she headed for the open window.
    He pulled out the gun that he’d taken away from the guy they’d encountered out back. What had happened while they were inside, exactly? Had Polly’s killer found his partner and set him free? Or had the guy out front come around back? And did whoever was out there know Matt was armed?
    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—the voices telling him there were at least two guys out there—as he ducked into the area behind the filing 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