Thief by Annie Reed Page A

legs,
yoga style, and let herself enjoy watching her boyfriend.
    She never even saw the guy who lifted her
purse from the blanket behind her until he was halfway down the
sidewalk leading to the engineering building.
    "Hey! Wait!"
    She scrambled to her feet. Her wallet with
her I.D. was in that purse, not to mention twenty bucks that had to
last her for the next five days until she got paid again.
    As soon as she yelled, the guy started to
run. He never even looked behind himself to see who was yelling. He
was tall and skinny and had on a plain blue jacket and faded jeans
and tennis shoes. Abby was no natural athlete. Her legs were short,
and she knew she'd never catch him, but damn it, that was her
purse.
    "Ryan!" she screamed over her shoulder as she
took off after the guy. She didn't wait to see if he heard her or
if he was following. She just ran.
    The University of Nevada campus in Reno was
built on a gradually rising hill at the north end of town. The quad
where she'd been sitting watching Ryan was relatively flat, but the
buildings housing the various university departments were
constructed on multiple levels, none of which seemed to match. For
a small campus, the university had more stairs and sloping walkways
than anyplace Abby had ever seen. Just walking to and from her
classes had taken ten pounds off during her first semester, not to
mention toned her legs, and anger was a great motivator. Still,
Abby could see that the guy was pulling away from her. When he
bounded up the steps to the library two at a time, Abby knew she'd
lose him as soon as he turned the corner of the building. There
were too many places to disappear from there. Too many places for
him to ditch her purse after he took her wallet. She hoped he
choked on whatever he bought with her money.
    Ryan and Jimmy caught up to her, but she
didn't stop for them. "That guy," she said, panting now and
pointing an unsteady finger at the thief. "He stole my purse!"
    "What guy?" Ryan asked.
    But it was too late. The thief had rounded
the corner of the library and was gone.
    "Damn it!" Abby's legs gave out on her and
she stumbled to a shaky halt. "Damn it."
    Ryan wrapped his arms around her. Abby let
herself be held only because she didn't want to fall down. She felt
hollow inside. She tried to tell herself she was being silly. It
was only twenty bucks. Maybe she could pick up an extra shift. She
worked at the sub sandwich shop two blocks from the campus. The pay
was awful but she got one free sandwich for every shift she worked.
She'd survive, somehow.
    But she shouldn't have to do that. What made
people think they could just take whatever they wanted and get away
with it? She was sure her Sociology prof would have a name for
people like that, but all Abby cared about right now was that some
random guy had taken something that belonged to her, and there was
nothing she could do about it.
    "Hey, Abby."
    That was Jimmy. He was standing behind her,
talking to her like she was an egg that might crack open if he
spoke too loudly. She didn't turn her head to look at him. Any
minute now she was going to break out in angry tears, and she
didn't want him to see. She didn't want Ryan to see, either, but at
least with Ryan, it wouldn't be any more embarrassing than the
first time he'd seen her naked.
    "What did your purse look like?" Jimmy
asked.
    When Abby didn't answer, Ryan said, "Black
leather with a shoulder strap and a zipper on top, right,
Abbs?"
    He was right. She didn't think he noticed
stuff like that. She nodded, her face still up against Ryan's
chest. Why did she have to be so short?
    She didn't hear Jimmy leave. She tried not to
think of anything. It was an old trick she'd learned when her
mother pushed all of Abby's buttons and then feigned innocence when
Abby lashed out. Today it wasn't working.
    "Hey," Ryan said softly. "It'll be okay. It's
just stuff. Stuff can be replaced."
    She knew that, but it was her stuff. She'd
worked hard for all her replaceable