Page 75 of Winter’s Fire

The annoying pout appeared again. “I’ll try.”

The woman irritated him in so many ways—it was just a pity none of them could be used to their advantage.

“Do you have any ideas, Logan?”

Lucy, on the other hand… for a civilian, he could only admire the level of focus she displayed. No, not a civilian—a trainee. Diana was a civilian, and to think of Lucy in the same terms was nothing less than an insult.

“Bringing the auction forward might do us a favour—they’ll be busy preparing for it, and not paying so much attention to us.” At least, he hoped that would be the case.

“How do we get out of this room?”

“Leave that to me. When we make our move, we need to do it when they’re least likely to be interested in us.”

Lucy looked thoughtful. “After they feed us. They usually leave us for hours then.”

“So what? The door has bolts across it, in case you’d forgotten, and I can’t see them conveniently forgetting to use them!”

Logan was fast running out of patience. “I know, Diana. We’ll work something out.”

“What happens when we do? We’re on our own here.”

Again he marvelled at the difference between the two women. Lucy’s calm question was worlds away from his former girlfriend’s near-hysteria. “We may be on our own, but it doesn’t mean no one’s looking for us. Sir Guy will do whatever it takes to get help to us. We’re already days overdue—he’ll have raised the alarm as soon as we failed to report, and whatever forces are deployed in this area, British or ally, they’ll be looking for us. But we can’t afford to sit here and wait for them to find us. We have to help ourselves, and that means getting out of this place.”

“And how do you propose to do that?”

Logan could barely hold onto the last of his patience. “Diana—”

“That’s it!”

He turned back to Lucy, who looked as if she’d just had a divine revelation. “What’s it?”

“I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before.”

“It’s not your job.” Because it was his job, and he’d failed her… both of them.

“That’s where you’re wrong—it’s my job, too, now.”

Her voice was cool, calm, and deadly with intent—and Logan fully understood the message woven between the words, even if he didn’t like what it meant. In spite of everything that had happened to her, the pain and humiliation, Lucy was still hell-bent on pursuing this lousy job as a career.

“So what’s your plan?”

~~*~~

The blows rained thick and fast. Jaw, stomach, jaw again. Fists flew, the heel of a hand landed with bone-crunching power, shattering a nose. With a burst of adrenaline protecting him from feeling the worst of his own injuries, Logan kicked out, his foot landing squarely in his opponent's chest. The impact propelled the scumbag backwards, sending him crashing into the wall where he landed in a broken, crumpled heap, ready for Logan to ensure he never got up again.

He used the back of his hand to wipe away the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. That last punch he’d taken had been a beauty, but just what he’d needed to find the extra strength to send his adversary reeling, prior to despatching him permanently.

Lucy’s strategy had worked perfectly—not that he’d liked playing the part of the bait in the trap, but it was the only way the plan made sense, given that he was the one who looked like walking roadkill. He didn’t know how she’d done it, but Lucy had even managed to co-opt Diana into assisting her, by having her hammer on the door and plead for help while Lucy lay in wait behind it.

His woman was truly amazing. There’d been only one guard on duty. Lucy had jumped him as soon as he set foot in the cell, clinging to him like a monkey and giving Logan a chance to wade into the fight. A couple of lucky blows to existing injuries had taken his breath away, but there was no question as to who was going to come out on top. Their lives and the lives of the other captives depended on it.

Now all they had to do was get down to the dock, steal a boat, and get the hell away. A careless comment overheard had given them an idea of the route to the jetty, and once they made it there he could breathe easy again, knowing that the beatings he’d taken had paid off.

“You okay?”

Lucy, of course, crouching between him and Diana. She’d been ready to protect the other woman with her life. There was so much Logan wanted to say to her, but with the gulf between them widening so much in the last forty-eight hours, it needed care and time that they just didn’t have. He nodded. “We need to get moving. The bastard could be missed at any moment, then we’ll really be in trouble.”

“And we’re not already?”