Page 54 (1/2)

I AM A THIEF

Men are brilliantly stupid

For one thing, guys carry the most cash with them anywhere Didn’t anyone ever tell them cash was dead?

I nestled myself in one of the side branches of Citadel Mall I picked ht reflecting off the sparkling plastic and crystals of the teeny bopper jewelry and handbags I ducked into a shoe store where the lighting was di was the hardest part

My favorite place to find duuys with lots of cash was the mall Always fairly crowded on a weekend; I could count on at least a couple of twenties for every wallet I temporarily borrowed

I never kept all of it Forty to sixty dollars at theto the cops I didn’tID cards That’s the kind of crazy stuff that gets you sent to prison I always left the wallets and the rest of the leftovers tucked away in the food court and on benches where ement would see it and find the owner That way, the people wouldn’t have to get new ID, which is a huge hassle

And they never suspected a thing All they sahen I accidentally bue as I could

It was even better if one of theirl would s an even better distraction with his head turned the other way Too bad the next place they walked into where she gave him the doe-eyes to buy her yet-another-pair-of-shoes, he’d be out of a wallet, and she’d be on to the next boy toy

If I could easily distract a guy when he had a decent girl hanging off his arirl was better off Loyalty was a big deal to me

This Saturday had, so far, been a bit of a letdown Only two hits for ot forty between them I handled the cash inside ers, partially frouilt I wanted to release it, but I’d worked hard for it, and didn’t want to let it go

Forty dollars wouldn’t be enough to cover the rent for next week, let alone food I only had about an hour or two left before

A target ca around the corner He was alone, and wore a dark red jacket It was kind of early in the fall for it, but I wasn’t going to start coe in his pants pockets and jacket picking was easy Easier still when he shoved his hands in his jean pockets, and the jacket bulged out on the sides,my job even easier

I waited, watching fro to study pairs of spiky slut shoes When he stopped and hovered in front of the cookie shop, I figured it was as good a time as any

I left the shoe store, taking the long way around the corridor, keeping to the middle potted plants, benches and other mall shin-splitters between us I looped around casually,t

oward the cookie stand

My Doc Martin boots and jeans were casual enough to blend in and be forgettable later I tugged the he just a slip of the grayan easy target

I steadied ; a skill I’d perfected I aihtly lower than the other, hopefully the sign of a full wallet If I rong, there wasn’tnotice Dipping into an eet

I stalled as he bought his cookie, watching to ht about the pocket with the wallet Sure enough, his hand reached in and pulled it out to pay the teenager behind the counter I stopped and bent over to tieout of the corner ofthe cookie out of the bag and stuffing it into his mouth He was at least a couple of heads taller than I was Not a proble more natural He had a wide jawbone and deep-set eyes He was looking curiously around, as if trying to pick out which direction he wanted to go next

He caught lance around and I froze I’d learned early on if I looked at the face, it became harder to make the move

This was a real person I was a thief

I usually picked a scruffier type that didn’t look like a nice person With the jacket, however, he was too easy a target to miss, and I was out of time to pick another

I spotted the closest trash bin and waited him out

It didn’t take the guy long to finish his cookie He aimed for the trash bin I’d picked out

I started walking, pretending to decide not to buy a cookie Fro out a crumpled piece of paper to throay

The next few moments slowed for ain for the millionth time why I did this

I prayed I wouldn’t get caught and that if I did, this guy wasn’t the type ould beat me to a pulp

With every step I took closer, I thought about changingI was a criminal Every wallet I took added up into so time

Except ave up now

One ood job soon We just needed to scrape by this week

I focused on the jacket

I aimed, and increased my pace to match his stride

Bump

My left hand brushed against his jacket at the heavy pocket

My right hand released the trash, tossing it away I caught the strap of my tank top that slid down my shoulder Practiced moves I’d done dozens of times

Big brown eyes flashed, focusing onto

That alone caught aze for so long, as if he was disinterested in the body and instead wanted to see the person See me

At least his eyes were up instead of down at waist level It was enough My hand was already in his pocket, curled around the leather wallet, lifting All I had to do was blush and apologize, tuck the wallet under ht and turn

"Hey! You! Girl!"

The shout was so desperate, so co, et and I broke our locked gazes and sought out the voice