DIAGNOSIS: ATTRACTION by REBECCA YORK Page B

cops and the thugs behind them.
    Elizabeth sat rigidly in her seat, and Matt knew what was in her mind. He was torn between escaping and giving her the reassurance they both needed.
    He turned onto a side street, made another turn, and pulled up under a low-hanging maple tree that partially hid them from the street.
    When he cut the engine, she turned to him with a little sob that was part relief and part frustration. He slid his seat back and reached for her, pulling her into his arms, holding tight as he ran his hands over her back and shoulders, thankful that they had both made it out of her house alive.
    Her apology rang in his mind.
    I’m so sorry.
    Not your fault.
    You said it was too dangerous to go there.
    But I also said we had to do it. We both knew it was necessary.
    They almost caught us.
    But they didn’t.
    As they silently spoke, she brought her mouth to his for a frantic kiss. And his response was no less emotional. If they hadn’t been on a public street, he knew they would have been tearing each other’s clothing off in the next moment and making frenzied love.
    But here in the car in a residential neighborhood, all they could do was clutch tightly, kissing and touching and silently proclaiming how glad they were that they’d found each other and how relieved they were that they’d escaped from Derek Lang’s men.
    The name jolted through both of them. He knew that the heightened emotions of the moment had made it pop into Elizabeth’s head. But he also knew from her thoughts that she was sure it was right. He was the man who’d sent the thugs after her—when she’d crashed her car, then later at Polly Kramer’s house and now. She looked at Matt, and he caught the swell of victory pounding through her.
    Derek Lang. That’s his name, she shouted in his mind.
    Yes.
    The next question is, what did I do to him?
    I hope we’ve got the answer.
    She nodded as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the small flashlight that she’d taken from the bulletin board. The men who’d searched the house had ignored it as just part of her kitschy office decorations, but when she’d unscrewed the top, she pulled out the thumb drive hidden inside.
    “They got the hard drive, but they didn’t get this,” she said. “Hopefully it duplicates what was in the computer.”
    “Clever of you.”
    She grinned at him. “Yes, if I do say so myself.”
    “Let’s hope it’s got what we need. I’d like to figure out what’s going on.”
    “But we need a computer.” She smiled as she caught his next thought and murmured, “Your laptop is in your trunk.”
    “Yeah.”
    “Clever of you to bring it along.”
    “I thought it might come in handy.”
    She didn’t ask where they were going because he knew she saw the picture of the motel room that had formed in his mind.
    She scooted back to the other side of the car. He slid his seat closer to the wheel again and drove away, being careful to stay under the speed limit.
    Matt slowed at the row of fast-food restaurants where they’d bought lunch.
    “We just used up a lot of energy with that mental stuff. We should get something to eat,” he said.
    She tipped her head toward him. “That might be what came out of your mouth, but you were thinking about something else.”
    “I guess I can’t hide that X-rated image of the two of us in bed. But we’ve got to keep our priorities straight. Food, work and then pleasure. What do you want for dinner?”
    When a picture of a large pizza, loaded with cheese, vegetables and meat, leaped into her mind, he said, “Excellent choice.”
    They bought the pizza along with soft drinks and brought it back to the motel.
    * * *
    M ATT DROVE THROUGH the lot before he stopped, but as far as he could tell, nobody suspicious was hanging around. Still he had Elizabeth wait in the car while he retrieved the laptop from the trunk.
    After he’d ushered her inside, he set the computer and the food on the table, then locked the door and