The vendor quickly assessed the situation and grabbed a briefcase from out of a cabinet beneath his stand. A cellular phone appeared in his hands, and he quickly began to dial.

The boy laughed, almost thumbing his nose at the dismay and destruction he left in his wake and gave one last, third-fingered salute to whomever cared to look.

For whatever reason, call it fate, call it bad luck, but the thief’s eyes connected with the shocked expression on Debbie’s face. For one slow moment in time, everything suspended, movement ceased, motion stopped. There was only Debbie staring into the dark, fathomless eyes of one who’d ceased to care. The connection was unwelcome to both, but it had happened. Debbie shivered, and the moment passed as quickly as it had begun. And then all she could see was Cole running and people screaming as someone called the police.

*  *  *

Cole’s first thought as he dashed through the crowd, trying to keep the thief’s bare brown backside separated from the other near-nude pedestrians, was that his service revolver was safety locked in the car back in the parking lot. That he was unarmed and chasing a perpetrator gave him second thoughts, but he didn’t stop.

The trio was moving fast. Cole knew it was almost beyond hope that he’d ever catch up. He was fast on his feet, but no match for wheels. And the density of the crowd through which he was running hindered him even more. One thing was in his favor; he didn’t think they knew they were being followed. He could see them yelling back and forth between themselves, and then he saw the woman’s bag drop to the ground.

Hell! he thought. They’ve already stripped it!

Before his eyes, they split and moved in three different directions. Cole muttered a helpless curse as he noticed something else. They’ve taken off their skates! Now they were no longer forced to stay on firm surface to make their getaway. This obviously wasn’t their first snatch.

They disappeared into the crowd, leaving Cole to retrieve the only thing he could catch: the woman’s bag. He bent down and picked it up, frustrated by the fact that they’d gotten away. The wallet was missing…of course. They were after cash. The rest of the stuff scattered on the street would only have been excess baggage to someone in need of a quick getaway.