Free Killer by Francine Pascal Page B

looking for a fight. Being away from Sam might have the effect of lessening the pain of his betrayal. Right now, however, it simply hurt. But it didn’t lessen herresolve. She had to get as far away from Sam as she possibly could. She had to forget him.
    â€œ. . . I was standing at the light, and this man bumped my shoulder,” the woman was babbling, trying to catch her breath. She was clearly shaken, unable to stand still. “The bag slid down my arm—and suddenly it was gone....”
    A purse snatching. Gaia frowned. Yup. Another reason New York City sucked. Another reason she had to get in touch with Uncle Oliver as soon as possible and get the hell out. This woman must have been carrying some fussy little designer number that made her an especially easy target. Gaia stepped forward.
    â€œDid you see the person who took it?” she demanded.
    The woman glanced at Gaia and blinked, then shook her head. The hostess, seizing the opportunity not to be further involved, vanished back into the kitchen. Gaia resisted the temptation to snicker.
    â€œI—I . . . don’t think so,” the woman stammered. “When I turned around, he was gone. Come outside—I’ll show you.”
    At this point there was little hope that the bag would ever be recovered, but Gaia followed, anyway. The drama was a welcome distraction. Anything was a welcome distraction at this point.
    The woman stopped.“I was right here at this corner....”
    Gaia nodded patiently as the woman ran through herstory again—but she was hardly listening. Her steely blue eyes performed a radar sweep of the immediate area. That’s when she spotted a trash can on the opposite side of the street. A trash can with a purse in it. It was every mugger’s favorite trick: Swipe the money; ditch the bag.
    â€œIs your purse a black leather shoulder bag with a silver clasp?” Gaia asked.
    The woman stared at her. She seemed slightly taken aback—almost suspicious. “How did you know?”
    Gaia smiled, then gently took the woman’s arm and led her across the street to the trash can. “Here it is,” she announced, flicking aside a few ancient french fries and pulling the bag out of the garbage.
    The woman’s face registered some emotion between relief and revulsion. Gaia could just imagine what was going through her mind:
Taking a purse out of the trash? Eww
. . . She flashed Gaia a pained smile, then delicately took the purse between her thumb and forefinger and opened it with her other hand, touching as little as possible. She sighed deeply. “My cash is missing, but everything else seems to be in there....”
    â€œWell, that’s good,” Gaia said. “You’re lucky. Most people never get it back at all.”
    The woman nodded gratefully. “I’d like to give you a little reward. I really appreciate—”
    â€œOh, no, please,” Gaia interrupted as politely as she could. “It’s no big deal. Believe me. Really. I know what it feels like to lose something.”
    Â 
GAIA
    People I Trust . . . or
Once Trusted: (a shrinking list)
    5. My Father
    4. Uncle Oliver—if his phone worked
    3. Ed
    2. Sam
    1. Myself

a huge mistake
    But there were moments—in bed—when Loki had let his guard down.
    Â 
    PEARL WAS A VERY LUCKY WOMAN.
    Loki knew she probably didn’t even realize
how
lucky. But that was quite all right. She was brave; he had to credit her for that. Few others would have come directly to him after failing him twice. But even that couldn’t sour his mood. Pearl had already repeated the story of how Gaia had unexpectedly showed up at the restaurant, but Loki made her tell it again. The tale sang in hisearslike a symphony.
    Lucky
    â€œThe girl is an absolute genius!” Loki cried, clapping and beaming like a proud father. She was definitely Katia’s child. And his . . . through the unfortunate vehicle of Tom, of