Zoe swung her fist at his face, but he caught it in his grip. She swung with her other fist toward his sternum, but he stopped her again. He pushed her arms apart as if he was going to tear them from the sockets.
Zoe ducked under his left arm and twisted free. She came at him with a raised fist. He blocked her attempt with his forearm then gripped her neck and spun her into a wall. Zoe, on instinct, clawed at the hand closing off her air supply, but it was like a vise. The man lifted her into the air so her feet were dangling. She started to see stars. If she didn’t do something quick, this man would kill her or do something far worse.
She raked her nails down his face, earning a bellow of rage, and his grip loosened just enough for her to bring her fist down on his forearm, severing his grip fully and dropping her back on the ground.
Zoe grabbed his wrist and brought her leg over his shoulder and faced sideways, so his arm was pinned between her legs, and twisted, feeling the arm break under her.
She moved until she was standing behind him and slid her hand under his chin and gripped her opposite bicep. Her other hand gripped the side of his head and pulled back.
The man tried to fight her, but he was weak with only one good arm to fight with. Zoe had the advantage and she used it.
“Tell me who you’re working for or I’ll kill you.” She tightened her grip around the man’s neck. He pulled at her arm, but his fight was weak as his air supply dwindled. Zoe had no intention of killing him. She needed information from him. She would just make him go to sleep.
Zoe heard the cocking of a gun. “Let him go,” a man said in an even tone.
Zoe didn’t move. She looked up to see her other kidnapper with a gun aimed at her. His skin was pale and drawn as blood freely oozed from the wound she’d given him. He was losing blood rather quickly. “I said let him go, or I’ll put a bullet between your eyes.”
She doubted it was an idle threat. The guy looked pissed. Maybe it had started as a simple kidnapping, but she had pushed them too far.
She was debating her next move when she saw a shadow come up behind him, then the man’s neck was snapped and he was dropped to the ground. Zoe sagged in relief seeing Logan standing there.
“You alright?” he asked calmly as though killing a man with his bare hands was an everyday thing.
Despite his calm tone, he looked anything but. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair in disarray. He’d obviously been in a fight before arriving in time to save her, again. She hated admitting that. It was becoming embarrassing. She prided herself on her self-sufficiency. She hadn’t needed anyone in years. And now, in less than twenty-four hours, this man had saved her three times. Not that she would say anything to that effect. She couldn’t allow herself to soften toward this man. “Never better.”
“You want to let him go then or just keep choking him out?”
Zoe looked down at the now passed out kidnapper, having completely forgotten about him. “Oh.” She released her grip, and he fell on his face with a loud thud. “How did you find me?”
“These guys were tracking you.” He held up a phone with a map display and a red dot. “So I used that to find you.”
“Oh,” she repeated. It was just like Logan had said. Damn, it was getting annoying that he was always right. The only thing Zoe thought they could track her through was her phone. She pulled it out of her pocket and tossed it on the ground, crushing it under the heel of her shoe. “Well, you didn’t have to come. I had everything under control.” She hardened her voice, trying to put a layer of ice around her heart. She couldn’t let on that she was grateful for his help. Or that she was happy he’d saved her. That would mean she liked him, and she couldn’t have that.
Logan quirked an eyebrow at her. “Oh yes, having a gun pointed at you as he’s threatening to kill you looked like you had things well in hand from where I was standing.”
“I did,” she said defensively. “He was already bleeding to death. From the injuryIinflicted, thank you very much.”
“And you were just going to stand there until he did? Great plan. In the meantime, he would have shot you, and you two could have watched each other bleed to death.” His voice dripped with sarcasm.
“I don’t have to explain myself to you.” She did have a plan, and it had nothing to do with just standing there. Not that she was going to tell him.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I was just worried about you. I didn’t know what I’d find when I showed up. You did well.”
Zoe hadn’t expected him to apologize or give her a compliment in the same sentence. “Thanks.”
The air seemed to crackle between them as they stared at one another. Zoe kept telling herself to look away, but she felt like a moth drawn to a flame. Hypnotized and attracted. It was Logan who broke eye contact first.
“We should get going. Maxim will be expecting us.”
Zoe pulled herself together. “Do you still have the package?” Maxim would be angry about her kidnapping, but it wouldn’t compare to if they lost the package. There was a lot of money in that case.
“It’s in my car.”
“Good, what should we do with him?” she asked, looking down at the man at her feet. “We need to interrogate him, but there isn’t enough room in your car.”
“I’ll make room.” The corner of his lip tipped up into a grin. She wasn’t sure she trusted it.
Chapter 10
