Run (6 page)

TOM WIPED HIS GLASSES ON THE
inside of his shirt, then replaced them on the bridge of his nose. He was dressed blandly, in khakis and a denim shirt. Over his reddish blond curls he wore a suede baseball cap in dusty blue. The brim was tugged low on his brow.

He was invisible, leaning there against the tree. Watching.

Watching as his daughter strode purposefully away from the fountain. There was a scrawny kid with dark hair and golden skin tagging along with her.

But what was in the bag?

He lifted the brim of his cap a fraction of an inch and squinted at the plastic bag she was clutching. His heart took a nosedive when he realized what was in it. The outline of the object bulged unmistakably against the red-and-blue lettering of the pharmacy's logo.

Unmistakable to him, at least. Tom sent up a silent prayer thanking the gods for the indifference of New Yorkers. They would probably not even notice the girl, let alone the bag, let alone its contents.

She leaned down and whispered something to the kid. Pointed to the bushes. The kid nodded and they kept walking.

He kept his eyes trained on her as she crossed to the chess tables. A small, sad smile kicked up the edges of his mouth. Chess. His favorite game. And Gaia's. The first time she'd beaten him, she'd been only eight.

Tom stepped away from the tree for a better view, looking utterly preoccupied with nothing in particular, but seeing, feeling, every step she took.

She was approaching a middle-aged guy in an ugly designer suit who was seated on the losing side of a chessboard.

The kid looked a little jumpy. This bothered Tom. Street kids didn't get jumpy without a good reason. And this kid looked downright nervous. Maybe even scared.

Gaia didn't look scared. Gaia never looked scared.

What she looked, lifting the bag and pressing it to the shoulder of the ugly suit, was
determined.
Tom moved away from the tree.

Why was she doing this? Had his leaving poisoned her so badly that she'd taken up petty crime? Or was there more to it?

Of course there was. He knew that was the real burden of the life he'd given her: For Gaia,
nothing would ever be exactly as it appeared.
Nothing would ever be simple. There would always be layers, dimensions, motives, and questions. And horrible choices.

But why was she choosing this? What had brought her here? Had her confusion and loneliness made her an easy mark for a gang? Had his absence led her to join one? Had she, in search of something resembling a "family," been sucked into their evil world?

No. Not Gaia. The girl was smart and, he knew, good. Good at her core, good in her very essence.

This was something bigger. More dangerous. Something enormous must have been at stake. And clearly her sense of urgency was overshadowing her good judgment.

This was not robbery for robbery's sake.

But it was still robbery.

Tom had to stop her, but how? Could he create some kind of distraction -- knock over a homeless guy's cart, perhaps? Draw her attention away from what she was about to do, long enough to bring her back to her senses?

He took two long strides in her direction, then stopped cold.

The punk.
The punk he'd shot at the other night. His arm was in a sling, and he was running toward Gaia.

Tom shuddered. He could see the slim silhouette of a switchblade in the punk's back pocket.

He meant business.

Tom should have rid the world of this menace Saturday night, when he'd had the chance. But Tom had let his emotions affect his accuracy. He'd missed his opportunity.

And now his hands were tied. This was a crowded park, in broad daylight. So for the moment, much to Tom's revulsion, CJ would have to be allowed to live.

Tom wondered what Gaia had done to piss CJ off. Maybe the kid had come on to Gaia once, and she'd blown him off. With a creep like CJ, a broken heart could easily become a fatal attraction.

There were only two things Tom knew for sure. One was that for the second time in less than forty-eight hours, he was going to have to put himself between Gaia and death. The other was that he was willing to do it.

FRANK LOOKED UP FROM HIS NEAR-defeat on the chessboard and raised one bushy eyebrow at Gaia. "What the hell is this?"

Gaia, her hand on the gun inside the bag, pushed the barrel harder into his shoulder. "
This
is a gun," she told him in a matter-of-fact voice. "Let's go somewhere a little more private."

"Oh, for Christ's sake."

Renny took off for the bushes that lined the east side of the park. "Follow the kid," Gaia said. Frank just stared at her, wide-eyed.

"Let's go," said Gaia, cocking the hammer.

"Jeez! Hey. Jeez!" Frank wriggled up from his seat and slowly followed Renny. His opponent, for obvious reasons, got up and fled. Two people at a table nearby scooted farther away. Gaia didn't have much time.

She shoved Frank in the back so he would hurry up, and he ducked behind the bushes. Gaia could only hope that the all-knowing kidnapper could see them back here and wouldn't miss her command performance.

Renny went to the edge of the bushes to keep watch, and Gaia grabbed Frank by the back of his collar, jerking him around to face her. He swore, swatting at her like a cartoon boxer, managing to clip her on the chin. She released him, used the hand that wasn't holding the gun to slap his face, then grabbed a handful of his greasy hair and pulled him to her.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to hit girls?" she asked, her nose practically touching his. He smelled like bourbon and chewing tobacco. Gaia had to struggle to keep from hurling.

Renny turned from his post. "Give us your wallet," he demanded in a forceful voice that sounded like it came from someone much bigger and older.

"You're supposed to be keeping watch," Gaia spat out. Renny turned around again.

"Give us your wallet," Gaia echoed.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure." Frank shoved a trembling hand into his breast pocket, withdrew a fat billfold, and slowly offered it to Gaia. For a moment it just sort of hung there between them, off the tips of his fingers.

It was almost too easy. Gaia had a feeling the kidnapper had been hoping for a bit more drama. The asshole had thought this out well. Do this too quickly and easily, and the kidnapper probably wouldn't be satisfied.

Take too long and she'd end up stuck in jail.

And Sam would die.

Gaia swallowed hard and narrowed her eyes at Frank. "Look petrified," she ordered. "Cry."

Sweat poured from his temples down his cheeks. "What, are you kiddin' me?"

"Does it look like I'm kidding?"

He gave a nervous laugh. "No, sweetheart. It don't."

His use of the word
sweetheart
nearly caused her to slap him again. "Cry," she repeated dryly, casually lifting her knee into his groin.

"Uhhnnfff!" Frank doubled over. "You little . . ."

"I don't see any tears," Gaia hissed, taking hold of his fleshy neck and applying a firm grip to the pressure point.

"Ahhh . . ." Frank's face contorted in pain, then he let out a satisfactory sob.

Gaia didn't let go. "No more sharking Zolov or anybody else," she commanded fiercely from above.

"Yeah," moaned Frank. "Yeah. Okay."

"Gaia?" Renny said tentatively. "I think we have to go."

She let go of Frank's neck and took a small step backward. He straightened up cautiously and handed over his wallet.

"This never happened," she hissed.

To her surprise, Frank gave her a cold smile. "Aye, yo. You think I'm gonna tell anybody I got held up by two little shits like youse? A freakin' Rican who ain't got hair on his chest, and his partner, the prom queen?"

At that Gaia shoved the bagged pistol right under his chin. "You
ever
insult me like that again, and I'll kill you!"

Then she grabbed Renny and ran.

Prom queen, my ass.

CJ WAS HEADING TOWARD HER LIKE
a tiger running down a wounded gazelle.

Gaia had no idea, focused as she was on committing her felony. The guy in the ugly suit was doubled over.

But Tom's eyes were trained on the tiger. The tiger had his hand on the knife.

Tom sprang into action. He hurdled a park bench, dodged someone on skates, and connected with the tiger in a check that would have done
Lawrence Taylor
more than proud.

CJ hit the pavement.

Tom kept running.

And Gaia was gone.

THE COP SKIDDED UP TO THE CURB
and got out of the car as though he were auditioning for a walk-on in
NYPD Blue
.

"Hey! You two."

Damn.

Gaia could feel the change in Renny as he walked alongside her. He tensed, and his body temperature climbed at a rate that was actually detectable.

Fear, she thought. So those are the symptoms, huh? Her own body was cool, her heartbeat slow and steady. Even when faced with losing Sam, the guy who made the future seem worth living, still she didn't feel fear. She felt anger, determination, frustration. But no fear. If she couldn't feel fear for Sam, couldn't feel the heartrending, temperature-raising emotion that every other human being felt, could she really love him?

She was drifting. She had to focus. She had to make use of the capabilities she had, not mourn the one that was missing.

"Don't panic," she whispered to Renny. "They can smell it." Or so she'd heard.

"Young lady . . ."

Gaia turned and graced the cop with an innocent smile. "Were you talking to me, Officer?"

"Yes."

He was really young. It could have been his first day on the job. He had one of those square chins that was pretty much a prerequisite for joining the police force.

"Is something wrong?" Gaia asked. She made no attempt to hide the plastic bag. Both the gun and Frank's wallet were still in it.

"I've just come from the park."

She looked suitably blank, patient. Renny, however, was bouncing, shifting his weight, preparing to split. She wished he'd just stand still.

"There was a mugging," the cop continued.

Gaia gasped. Nice touch. "Oh my God."

"Nothing too serious. Guy's wallet was stolen. Couple of eyewitnesses said it was two kids. Boy and a girl." He cleared his throat, an unspoken apology.

He hated this. Gaia could tell. A serious young law enforcement officer like him should have better things to do than hassle a couple of kids. Gaia could actually see him thinking this. She wasn't sure whether to be thankful for or repulsed by his obvious attraction to her. It might just get them out of this.

"Well, we didn't see anything," she said with a
dainty shrug.
"We weren't even in the park."

The cop nodded. "Why aren't you two in school?" he asked, as if it had just occurred to him.

"We're home-schooled." Gaia fired this out so quickly that even she believed it. "My mom teaches us." She put an arm around Renny's shoulder, pressing down ever so slightly, to get him to quit fidgeting. "This is my stepbrother."

Another nod from
Glamour Cop.
He hesitated, as if he might ask for their names, but didn't. He turned to get back in the car, then turned back.

"By the way, what's in the bag?"

"The bag? What's in the bag?" Gaia knew she sounded like an idiot, but the question had caught her off guard. She'd thought they were home free.

"What's in the bag?"

Nothing. Just a gun and a stolen wallet.

Then she heard Renny say, "Tampons."

It was all Gaia could do to keep from laughing out loud.

"Tampons," Renny repeated, snatching the bag from Gaia. He held it out to the cop, but his eyes were on Gaia. "I hope I got the right kind," he said in the most disarmingly innocent tone Gaia had ever heard from him -- maybe from anyone. "Superabsorbent, you said, right? The deodorant kind?"

He turned his doe eyes back to the cop. "She gets embarrassed, see, so I go into the pharmacy and get 'em for her." He gave the bag a little shake. "Wanna check?"

The cop, looking embarrassed himself, shook his head. "No," he said with a slight croak. "Not necessary."

He ducked back into his car and drove off.

Gaia was gaping at Renny in disbelief. "Where'd you learn to lie like that?"

"I dunno." He threw her a crooked grin. "Home school, maybe?"

Gaia wanted to hug him, but of course she didn't. Instead she pressed her index finger forcefully into his
chest.
"Lying. Bad. Stealing. Worse. I only did this because somebody's life is in danger, and I had no other choice."

Renny opened his mouth, probably to ask whose life, but Gaia barreled right along.

"From now on, I want you to stay the hell away from that stupid gang. You don't need them to watch your back." She paused, hoping she could pull off the next sentence without sounding like a total Hallmark card. "You've got me, all right? I'll . . . watch your back."

She didn't wait around to see the expression on his face.