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Joe casually meandered through the plethora of vehicles, headed toward her target, looking around every now and then to make sure no one was lurking. Indeed, the entire population of the little town had to be inside the establishment enjoying their alcohol, because there wasn’t a soul outside that she could see.
Her mind wandered as she strolled, going back to the previous evening with Mike. He’d blown her mind with how he’d made her feel. And not just physically. Oh, he’d pushed all the right buttons again and again—she snickered at those actual buttons—but it was his gruff, caring demeanor that had her tied up in knots. She was quickly becoming addicted to the man, and where would that leave her once this op was over?
Joe sighed as she walked up to the car in question, and was just about to squat to tag it when?—
What the fuck?
Someone hit her from behind
Joe fell forward, her hands slamming against the white chassis saving her from a face-plant, but…
Serendipitous. Quickly, before she turned to battle the soon-to-be-dead-man behind her, she managed to reach down and place her small tracker in the wheel-well.
That done, Joe focused her attention on whatever cocksucker was now pawing her hips with the intent to drag her body toward his.
“Cut the shit, asshole,” she growled, kicking up and back with one heel. She didn’t bother employing her southern accent to hiss at the guy. By the time she got finished with this prick, his bell would be rung so hard, he wouldn’t remember anything.
Dammit. Her blow landed on the man’s thigh. That’s not where she’d been aiming, and, predictably, it did nothing to deter her assaulter. She tried again, this time centering herself before striking, and was satisfied when she got a pained grunt, and the hands clutching her hips loosened.
Dick-strike!
While the man clutched his junk, Joelle twisted to the right, thrusting back an elbow before sweeping her foot around to topple the man off his pins.
He went down hard, eating a mouthful of gravel, but before she could kick him in the head, he grabbed her ankle and held on with a determined grip.
Seriously? He was tenacious. She’d give him that. But was a piece of ass worth all that effort?
Joe wanted to get a good look at the creep, but in the dim light, she couldn’t make an ID. His large physique, however… Crap. She had her suspicions that perhaps he was the large muscle-man who’d been accompanying Mr. Nugget, and if that were the case…
He lifted his head and snarled at her.
Oh, yeah. That was him alright.
Joe’s blood ran cold. This wasn’t good. It meant the attack wasn’t random. It meant her perps had found her out somehow, and her ass was in serious trouble. She needed to get away from this prick’s clutches for a hot minute and call Mike for backup.
With her free foot, she stomped on the guy’s wrist, and his fingers lost their grip. She took off, weaving between cars, but before she was even five vehicles away, the cocksucker was behind her again, grabbing her by the hair. She gasped as he pulled her head back, then slammed it into the side of someone’s truck.
Fuck!
She saw stars, and in her momentary muddle, her assailant wrenched her arms behind her back, holding her immobile.
Or so he thought.
Joe didn’t put up an immediate fight, letting the jerk-off believe he had the upper hand while she sorted and reorganized her rattled brains.
Was he waiting for something? Someone? Joe finally felt steady enough, and wouldn’t give him any additional time to gather reinforcements.
One, two, three…
Joe let her body go completely lax before ducking and spinning to the left, under the guy’s elbow to break his hold before coming up behind him. In seconds, she had her left hand wrapped around his wrist and without hesitation, had his arm up against his spine, wrenching it to the point of dislocation.
He howled his dissatisfaction, and Joe gave a nasty grin as he struggled. “If you don’t stop moving, we’re going to pop this baby out of its socket,” she told him, turning his body toward the bar. “Now we’re going to walk this way, go inside, and call a friend of mine to come get you, understand?”
“An unlikely scenario,” said a voice from behind her. Joe started to turn, but before she could, there was a sharp jab to her exposed skin, followed by a warmth that swiftly flowed through the veins of her neck.
“What the fuck?” she snarled, but her numbing hands were already dropping their hold on the perp she’d bested.
She turned, woozy, to see Mr. Nugget behind her, holding a syringe. A nearly empty syringe with a small amount of milky liquid still in the barrel.