into an alleyway

d, checking the street entran

ack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lit one.

g and blew th

u," he said simply.

chest ti

r. Not her father. Not her teac

nger, this criminal-risking pri

eyes again, but th

said, gesturing wildly at the bags. "We hav

uckle that vibrated

nager won't call the cops. He thinks I'm..." He paused. "

ira muttered. "Y

through the smoke

t skippe

the cigarette with his heel. He pulled out his phone and t

the mountain of couture bags between

high-level credit card fraud. Now, the

dog he'd bought from a stre

," she sai

e was scanning the crowd

me for brea

hanking you for

ing. He turned

Instead, he saw a girl sitting on a dirty bench, shivering in the wind, eating street meat like it was a five-star meal, and thanking a convicted felon for a

of mustard on the c

ut, his thumb extending**, driven by a s

eld her

it into a fist**, violently reminding hims

mustard," he

way quickly, h

Mercedes slowed do

e used to intern with. She was looking right

eating street

head, shame w

k m

broad shoulders so that he comple

uman wall, until

d the dresses into the back and then paid the driver of a black town

o home,"

rn leather seat, hyper-aware of the space between them. She could feel

window, a silent,

elt..

years, she felt comp

a shoved the expensive dresses into the b

he evidence,"

the window, looking

dea," h

turned

n't do that again. I'm not w

His face wa

dea what you'r