The Girl Thief

by Robert E Cummings

  “Can you move the car up?” Sammy shouted. “It’s okay if she moves it up, right?”

  Leo nodded, slowly ratcheting the hoist and lowering the machine. “Line it up with the trunk.”

  Tatiana chuckled. “It might be a tight squeeze. I forgot to remove the bodies.”

  Leo looked at Sammy. “I hope she’s not serious.”

  “After what I’ve seen her do to that chair, nothing would surprise me.”

  Tatiana slinked back into the car and rolled it into position.

  Leo stopped. “We’re close enough. I’ll go down and guide it in.”

  Golden Boy stuck his head out the car window. “Can you hear the sirens?”

  Yeah, it was like flies buzzing around, and she couldn’t shoo them away. Sammy worked the ratchet, making sure it was going in the right direction.

  Leo jogged to the back of the car and told Tatiana to move it up a little. The trunk popped open. He waved to her to bring it down. Sammy went full speed, not caring about swaying.

  Fire engines pulled in front of the place. Red-and-white lights danced and spun, coloring everything into a tumult. The hoist line went slack.

  “Pull it up, pull it up,” Leo said, fighting with the straps. “I can’t get the straps free.”

  Sammy pulled down on the ratchet, but the line dropped farther. “How do I get this to pull up?”

  Tatiana sashayed to the back of the car, pulled out her silver knife, and cut the straps. “You have to keep your knife sharp, little bird.” She slipped the knife back into her pocket. “Coming?”

  Sammy reeled up the line and rushed down the stairs. Heavy footfalls reverberated from the front. Lights bounced indiscriminately. Sammy ducked down behind a desk.

  “Anybody here?” someone shouted.

  “The door was open,” another said.

  Three of them huddled in front of her desk. One tapped on the screen strapped to his wrist. “The trigger point is upstairs.”

  Sammy scampered out from under the desk and ran to the front door. The door swung open. She scrambled back.

  A light circled around the desk, splashing her face, then coming back again. Sammy froze. The light fell away, and the footsteps thumped off.

  She tiptoed to the front door. Two men were by the truck, talking. Sammy squeezed through the door and snaked behind the bushes along the front, then trotted back to the car.

  Tatiana rolled down the window. “Getting a little hot in there, little bird? Thought I’d have to rescue you.”

  The back door swung open. Leo looked up and stared. He grabbed Golden Boy’s mask and bolted out. “Have to check on the editor.”

  Golden Boy laughed. “That mask isn’t going to make that machine invisible, deadpan.”

  Leo grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to the back. “Fascinating,” he said, turning her head from one angle to the next.

  Please, don’t let it be another face change.

  Leo handed her the mask. “Put this on.”

  She teared up. “Why?”

  “Have you experienced changes in skin coloration before?”

  Sammy ran a sleeve over her cheeks. “Maybe.”

  Tatiana tapped the side of the door. “Unless you want to be left behind, you better get in.”

  “It’s okay,” Leo said, handing her the mask. “I’ll help you.”

  Sammy didn’t look up, not wanting him to see her. She pulled the mask over her face, her view suddenly narrowed by the eyeholes. It had a sweet, musky scent.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  ______________________________

  Sammy sat on the windowsill, looking over the fire escape. She held a piece of bacon, hoping Cat would come running for it. He’d been with her last night, and she’d gotten her face back.

  “Sam, the cat’s not coming.”

  Sammy glanced over at Cindy, who wore a low-cut dress. Must be going to Johnny’s.

  “He’s not a very friendly cat. He almost scratched me.”

  “Some people rub him the wrong way. People rub me the wrong way all the time.” She was thinking of Johnny. Last night, he told her he’d get her a whip to go with the mask. “Going to Johnny’s?”

  “I still got a few minutes. Why don’t you come over here so I don’t have to shout?”

  Her fingers were greasy from the bacon. She dropped the piece on the sill.

  “You did real good job stealing that machine. You should be celebrating.”

  Sammy looked for something to wipe her fingers. “I’ll be celebrating when I get my money.”

  “You’ll get it once Johnny starts selling the psychedelics,” Cindy said, her face creased in worry. “I helped Leo set up that machine. Did I tell you that?”

  Sammy nodded. Her trousers had cat hair, so she wiped her hand on the leg.

  “Not that I knew what I was doing.” She grinned. “He asked about you.”

  “About what?”

  Cindy shrugged. “Mostly how you were feeling.”

  “What did you say?”

  “You’re doing…okay. You healed real fine from that bullet shot. Mama couldn’t find a mark.”

  Another weird thing she’d forgotten about. She felt her hair. It was still a little stiff, but at least she wasn’t bald.

  “Leo said he’ll stop by tonight—”

  “He will?”

  “Didn’t I tell you?”

  “What does he want?”

  “He wants to talk to you. He had a few questions, but you ran out,” Cindy said, searching her face.

  Sammy walked to the window. The bacon began drying, and Cat was nowhere in sight.

  Cindy got up from the chair. “Why did you run out?”

  “Why should I stick around those laughing hyenas?”

  “They were laughing at that mask, not you. Why would you put that mask on if it wasn’t for a gag?”

  “What if I had a bad skin condition and had to wear a mask?”

  Cindy took a step closer, examining her face. “Wish my face was that clear, took a half an hour scrubbing two pimples.”

  “One day it could be.”

  “Your skin is like fine china.”

  “You see any tulips?”

  Cindy giggled, poking at her cheek. “One right there.”

  Sammy smiled.

  “Looks even better when you smile,” Cindy said, looking up at the clock. “Got to go.”

  Sammy was back by the window, waiting for Cat. “Cat, your favorite.” She dropped another strip on the fire-escape grate. She’d get more and leave a trail for him.

  The front door swung open. It was Igor.

  Sammy spun, heart racing. “Don’t you knock?”

  “Door was opened,” he said, turning to Leo. “There she is. I take you right to her.”

  “Where’s Cat? You have him locked up?”

  Igor shrugged. “My sister must have him. It is her cat.”

  Leo stepped in, looking a little sheepish. “How are you feeling?”

  Sammy turned back to the window. “Fine.”

  “If you need anything, I am downstairs,” Igor said. “I help you; you help me. That is the way it is, yes?”

  “Thank you for letting me in,” Leo said. The door closed.

  Sammy sat on the windowsill. “Must have Cat locked up.”

  “Back to normal, I see.” His voice had an artificial cheeriness. The floorboards creaked as he approached.

  “For now.” The piles of junk in the courtyard reminded her of pictures she’d seen of termite hills dotting the savanna.

  “I brought a few items with me to do some tests.”

  What made her think of the termite hills?

  “It would’ve been better if I could’ve done them last night.”

  Did she have a yearning to prowl a grassy plain?

  “Why don’t you come and sit over here.”

  Who or what was she becoming?

  “Sam?”

  She turned back. Leo held a plastic pouch with a n
eedle. He gestured to the stuffed chair. “What’s that for?”

  “Blood work. Come.” He waved the bag as if the idea of the needle would make her come running.

  “You’re not stabbing me with that.”

  “A minor discomfort shouldn’t dissuade you from a greater understanding of your current condition.”

  He seemed a little too gleeful for her liking. “I want to be cured of it. You got something for that?”

  “We can explore all avenues, but first I need to do some tests.”

  She’d seen enough cons to know he wasn’t interested in a cure. Sammy gazed back out the window, searching for anything moving over the mounds.

  Leo ripped open a small bag. “I’ll start with a mouth swab.”

  “Take your bag of tricks and get out of here.”

  “I’m here to help.”

  “Help yourself you mean. I’m just another test tube to you.”

  Leo put the ripped bag on the counter. “Everyone gets paid, Sam. You help me, and I help you. Isn’t that what your friend said?”

  “He’s not my friend. He’s a parasite.”

  Leo grinned. “Some parasites form a symbiotic relationship.”

  Cat was outside the bottom-floor window, looking up. “Cat, there’s bacon,” she said, pointing to the step.

  Arms reached out and grabbed him. It was Igor’s sister. She sneered at Sammy and pulled Cat inside.

  “Never did like her.”

  Leo stepped to the side of the window, peering down. “Is your cat out there?”

  Sammy shook her head. He wasn’t her cat. She could buy him if she ever got paid.

  “I’m not lying about helping you.”

  “You lied about finding a cure.”

  “The term ‘cure’ doesn’t fit. It’s as if you’re asking to cure blonde hair.”

  “Yeah, it’s called hair dye.”

  He sighed. “What you have is an ability no other human has. It’s certainly not a disease.”

  “How about turning me from a freak to a non-freak?”

  “Sam, don’t fall into the trap of being like everyone else. This is a rare gift you’ve been given. Embrace it.”

  “That’s a pretty good con,” Sammy said, walking to the living room. “Is that what you tell all of your rats?”

  “I didn’t plan this. You crashed into my test tubes, remember?”

  Sammy plopped onto the chair he’d pointed to earlier. “You looking for payback?”

  Leo stood by the sofa. “What I’m saying is that neither of us wanted it, but it happened, so let’s make the best of it.”

  “For who?”

  “For both of us,” he said, turning red.

  Sammy grinned at him being so hot and bothered over it. The smell of the bacon bothered her. She got up and washed her hands in the sink. The fat clung to her skin and took some scrubbing to get rid of the smell.

  He joined her at the counter and swept his stuff back into his bag of tricks, looking like a kid with a ball and nobody to play with.

  Sammy dried her hands. “How’s the pill-making going?”

  He nodded. “The first batch is incubating. Cindy was very helpful.”

  “You sure you’re not lying about that?”

  Leo grinned. “Well, put it this way. She exceeded my expectations.”

  Sammy poured a small glass of pineapple juice. “You don’t seem like the type to work in a place like that.”

  “It suits my research goals at the moment.”

  “And what are those?”

  Leo strolled toward the middle of the apartment.

  Sammy took a sip of the juice. “Want anything?”

  He shook his head. “This seems like a decent place. What are your arrangements?”

  “Mama let us stay here after I got her some pills.”

  “Your mother lives here too?”

  Sammy shook her head. “Igor’s mother.”

  “Is he the one that brought me up here?”

  Sammy nodded. She could still smell a little bit of the bacon. Some must’ve gotten under her nails. “You’re thinking of moving in here?”

  Leo picked up his bag off the counter. “I’m considering it.”

  “It should be easy trading psychedelics for an apartment.”

  “The coin of the realm,” he said, tucking his bag under his arm. “If you ever want to talk about your condition, you know where to find me.”

  “What’s there to talk about?”

  “For starters, what’s the trigger?”

  “You mean how it starts?”

  Leo nodded. “There has to be something that triggered it.”

  “If I knew what it was, I’d avoid it.”

  “I gather last night wasn’t the first incident.”

  Sammy took a sip from the glass. “Happened before.”

  “Good,” Leo said, putting the bag back on the counter. “More than one data point will help to draw inferences.”

  “Before this, it was daytime and I was outside.”

  “Were the circumstances similar?”

  “I wasn’t stealing anything.”

  “Can you tell me what happened?”

  Sammy wasn’t sure she wanted to tell him about looking through a window. It sounded kind of creepy. “This girl was swinging on the uneven bars, so I went up the fire escape to see if she left any jewelry on the table. When she dismounted, she spotted me.”

  “Then what?”

  “I tripped on the way down.”

  “You fell down the fire escape?”

  Sammy shook her head. “I held onto the rail.”

  “Okay, you were holding onto the rail. Then what happened?”

  “Nothing.”

  “You attempted to steal her jewelry, and she did nothing?”

  “I didn’t steal anything. It was like I was just watching her on those stupid bars.”

  “Suppose someone came up your fire escape and was watching you. Would you do nothing?”

  “I’d chase the creep out of there.” Damn. She was a creep too.

  “So again, what did she do?”

  “She didn’t see me, okay. She can’t do anything if she didn’t see me.”

  “She came to the window and you were what, a few steps away?”

  “More than a few.”

  “Would you say she was farther away from you when she first spotted you or closer?”

  “Had to be closer.”

  “What were you thinking when she was at the window looking for you?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You were hoping she wouldn’t see you.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Did anyone see you at Bushwick and Halsey?”

  “There was a guy with a light who might’ve seen me. Why?”

  Leo grinned. “Stop by the lab tomorrow.”

  “For tests?”

  “We’ll see if we can understand what’s going on.”

  “You’re really good at not answering questions.”

  He strolled to the door with the bag under his arm. “You hold all the answers, Sam.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  ______________________________

  Sammy slipped the phone into her pocket. It was a cheap forty-dollar version with enough credit for a few rides. The Pleasure Palace had a handful of people waiting to get in the front. She went around the back but was blocked by a big guy. Sammy figured four of her wouldn’t measure up to him.

  He looked down at her, annoyed. “Beat it, kid.”

  “Fresh out of lollipops?”

  “Get lost.”

  Sammy rolled her eyes. “I’m here to see Leo.”

  “There’s no Leo here.”

  “He’s the one who makes the psychedelics.”

  “Yeah, everybody wants them.”

  “I’m not here for that.”

  The guy huffed, clicking on a mic. “I got a kid who’s causing trouble.”

  “I’m Sam,” Sammy shouted
over him. “Here to see Leo.”

  A red light turned green over the door. Johnny had enough money to get a fancy camera but didn’t have a thousand bucks for her.

  “You’re Cindy’s friend,” a guy said over the speaker. “The one with the mask the other night?”

  Sammy sighed. “Yeah, that’s me. Next time, I’ll bring the mask.”

  The guy snickered. “Let her in, Grish.”

  Grish opened the door, looking like he wasn’t sure if he should smile.

  Sammy ducked under his arm. “Later on, I’ll introduce you to everybody.”

  Straight ahead was the kitchen, and to the right was the door leading to the basement.

  Cindy walked up to her, carrying a tray. “Sam, what are you doing here?”

  “Leo asked me to stop by.”

  “Isn’t it exciting?” Cindy asked, turning to the front of the place.

  At least the place didn’t look empty. “They got more than ten people here tonight?”

  “The place is filled. All VIP.”

  “You mean RIP?”

  Cindy’s forehead creased as she thought it over. “No, that’s right, VIP,” she said, grabbing Sammy’s arm. “It’s preview night.”

  “Don’t you need something to preview?”

  “The psychedelics. Aren’t you here to help Leo with that?”

  “Yeah, I thought it was tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow’s the big opening,” Cindy said, pulling her toward the lounge. “Guess who’s here?”

  Sammy shrugged. “Igor?”

  Cindy stopped by the lounge doorway, pointing to the middle back section.

  It was Golden Boy and Tatiana. “What are they doing here?”

  “Johnny invited them for helping with the machine. They gave me a big tip.”

  “Sugar!” Golden Boy waved her over.

  Sammy couldn’t slip back now. She trudged over to their table.

  Tatiana peered over her wineglass. “Where did you run off to, little bird? We planned to celebrate our first heist together.”

  “I wasn’t up for burned marshmallows.”

  Tatiana smiled, swirling the wine. “I’m sure we could’ve come up with something else.”

  Golden Boy took a sip of his wine. “If you’re going to burn something, I’d vote for marshmallows.”

  “I’m thinking of something bigger. How about one of the eyesore buildings in the zone? There’s plenty to pick from.”