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The runt of pain escaped hi, she turned to run down the alley

He caught her ankle, and she went down

But she did so screa like thunder

The man started to crawl over to her

"Nikki!"

She wasn’t sure if she heard her na with pounding footsteps

Her attacker froze, then began to scrah her, and she found herself furiously fighting to hold on to him

Help was coled hi all the while to wrench her purse fros, not even thaton to anything o, she told herself

But she didn’t

She didn’t knohy she held on to it, but she did, still fighting, kicking and lashing out frorit in the alley bit into her back

The figure wasn’t going to fight for it, she realized He, too, had heard her na down the alley, closer and closer…

The figure released her purse and ran, a black for into the shadowed alley

Brent reached her side, fell to his knees next to her, eyes sharp and anxious, features taut "Nikki, are you all right? What the hell happened? Nikki, daht?"

She nodded, sed "Fine I’m fine"

"What the hell--oh, we’ll talk about it later"

Apparently assured that she really was all right, he was instantly back on his feet, racing in pursuit of her attacker

She heard his footfalls as he disappeared down the alley

Then the blaze of a police siren blasted away any other sound She elbowed herself up to a sitting position By then Mitch had reached her, falling down on a knee by her side "Nikki,hi the several dozen tourists who crowded around, and then she had to tell the sa to the first police officer on the scene

Suddenly it seeh the alleyway One was begging the crowd to disperse

People had come out from the rear doors of the jazz club and the restaurant, too

It seeet her ishers to et to her feet, even with the help of one of the policemen

She answered questions The officer who had helped her gave sharp orders to the other

At last he spoke to their tour group, offering refunds

Though they were still far from the tour’s end, no one would take a refund They all hovered, though

In the usted He hadn’t been able to catch her attacker

The next thing she knew, she and Brent and Mitch were down at the station, and the first officer, aher that there had been a nus, and the offender had matched the same description

She was left alone in one of the conference rooms with Brent He stared at her with ier A vein ticked hard in the side of his neck

"Brent, I heard you coht, that was idiotic, too," he said, rising, pacing

She was startled "He attacked ht back"

"He could have had a knife… he could have… " He threw up his hands, ending with an oath He spun on her "Why were you in the alley to begin with?" he demanded

Startled, she opened her rier

He set his hands on the table between them and leaned toward her, eyes sharp "You followed so how he knew it for a fact, how he could read her so easily

"Andy?" he de that the officers weren’t about to walk back in She hadn’t entirely convinced herself that she wasn’t crazy yet

"The bum," she said "Except that he’s not a bum anymore I’d actually seen him earlier in the day, but I hadn’t realized it He’s… clean shaven And in a suit I saw him walk by earlier, but… "

"When?" Brent demanded

"On our way to the voodoo shop" Now there was no way in hell she was going to tell him that Contessa had seen a purple aura around her