“How much?”

“Couple thousand. Enough to get me out of town, keep me alive until things settled down.” She blinked back tears again and wiped at her swollen face. “Bastards. I worked for that money.”

Robby reached for the cookies. Oatmeal, sugar, vanilla; she inhaled the warm perfume and crunched a bite to ease the cramp in her stomach.

“We all work for our money,” she said. Velvet snuffled wetly.

“Yeah, well, some of us work a little harder, if you know what I mean. Hell, all you do is steal.”

“Stealing is worse than prostitution?” Robby asked. She reached for a half-full glass of milk on the table and took a thick cold mouthful. Velvet covered her face with her hands and leaned her forehead against the window. “You really know how to make friends, Velvet.”

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “You gonna throw me out?”

Robby stood up and carried the cookies and empty milk glass back into the kitchen. From there, with warm water running soothingly over her hands, she said, “You know where the guest bedroom is. Sheets are in the closet. If you want anything else, look for it.”

She felt rather than heard Velvet behind her. She looked over her shoulder and saw her slumped against the wall, tears glittering in her tired wounded eyes.

Velvet reached out and touched Robby’s shoulder, a quick brush of fingertips. The tears spilled over.

Robby turned back to the dishes, scrubbing furiously. When she looked again, the room was empty except for the morning light.

“Two fingers,” she instructed, and moved Velvet’s hand slightly. “Relax. Relax. There.”

Velvet jerked the wallet triumphantly out of her pocket, whooped, and tossed it in the air. Robby caught it deftly and slipped it back in her jacket.

“That was terrible. Remember what I told you. Two fingers, move with your mark, let his momentum take the wallet. If you jerk it like that, he’ll know the second you have it. Try again.”

Velvet, face tight with concentration, slipped two fingers into the pocket and snagged the wallet. When she had it halfway out, Robby took a step forward, and Velvet lost her grip. The wallet flopped on the carpet, spilling credit cards.

“Shit!” Velvet kicked the wallet into a skid across the hardwood floor, sent credit cards skittering. “You moved! No fair!”

“That should make an impressive defense in court.” Robby bent and scooped up a Gold American Express, a Visa, a Discover. None of them had her names. She retrieved the wallet and slotted them back in place. “Do you want to stop now?”

“No. I just want to do it right, just once.”

“In a day?” Robby shrugged and handed her the wallet. “Here. Put it somewhere.”

“Where?”

“Anywhere.”