I grinned as I approached a crossroads. “I won’t make any promises. Bye, Mom.”
“Bye, Gracie.” Click.
I tucked my phone away and shook my head. “She’s too good at bribery.”
That’s when voices caught my attention. I reached the intersection and paused on the threshold of indecision. The voices came from my left. My home lay to my right. My tired feet told me to turn right. Besides, what business did I have
I heard the voices again. They were louder now. There was something threatening in the garbled words and tones.
I pressed my purse tight against my side and pursed my lips. “Damn it all.”
Chapter 2
I stalked leftward toward the noises. They grew louder as I reached the mouth of a dark alley. I peeked around the corner and beheld a dingy corridor of trash-strewn pavement and algae-covered brick walls. A few abandoned trash cans dotted the area, their bent and dented bodies reflected in the pools of pothole water.
Four men stood in the middle of the alley. Three of them surrounded the fourth, a bent figure in a long overcoat and elegant black shoes. His white-gloved hand grasped a black, smooth cane, which he leaned heavily against. The man’s black hair was combed back to reveal a high forehead and angular cheekbones, and the ends of those strands stopped at midneck.
His companions wore quite different attire, dressed as they were in ragged short-sleeve shirts and mud-stained pants. Their short hair stuck out at odd angles, creating a halo of malevolence around their dirty faces.
One of the motley crew nodded at the shorter man’s duds. “You have to have a coin to spare, looking like that.”
The man they surrounded spoke, and his baritone voice had a distinct accent that I guessed was German. “I have no money that you would find useful, gentlemen, now if you would please allow me to pass.”
The hunched man tried to slip past them, but the leader stepped into his path. “Come on! Don’t be going so soon! We’re not done with you, yet!”
“I only desired to pass through here. If you would be so kind as to allow me to go on my way, I will not bother you.”
“There’s a toll to pay for passing through here,” the man insisted as he reached into his pocket and drew out a slim object. My heart skipped a beat when a five-inch-long blade sprang out. “Now hand over whatever ya got, old man.”
The hunched gentleman chuckled. “Old? My friend, you have no idea how old I am.”
The man with the knife scoffed. “And I don’t care, either. Just give me everything ya have.”
“I would not be so hasty to demand of others that which you have no right to.”
A dark cloud settled on the knife-wielding man’s brow, and he took a step closer. “Quit yapping and hand it over.”
“Leave him alone!”
The words escaped my mouth without thought, and I recognized my folly the moment the men whipped their heads around to face me. Threatening looks turned to ones of supreme, lustful interest. I took an unsteady step back as one of them moved toward me.
“What have we here?” he cooed as a grin curled onto his lips. “A little thing lost in the dark?”
I stumbled back and dipped my hand into my pocket for my phone. One of the men sprang forward and grabbed my wrist, twisting it. Pain shot up my arm, and a strangled cry escaped me.
“That’s what you get for watching us!” their leader snapped at me.
The heavy hand of the stranger clapped down on one of his shoulders. The vagabond jerked his head around, and the stranger spoke in his low, calm voice. “I would ask that you release the young woman.”
The man sneered at his victim and reached out to grab his offending hand. “Let go, old man, or I’ll-”
The ‘old man’ straightened out of his hunched posture, and his height was such that he towered over even the tallest of the men. The folds fell away from his cloak, revealing a slim figure. The gloom of night couldn’t dampen the bright blue eyes that now stared down at the men with an intensity that took my breath away.
His voice cut through the grim night like a bolt of lightning. “You will not hurt her.”
Two of the assailants scuttled back, my captor included, their mouths agape at the transformation. Their leader shook off his shock and glared at the man. “Yeah? And who’s going to stop us? You? You’re just an old man, and there are three of us! Now get ‘em!”
His cohorts gave a great cry and lunged at the man. The stranger stepped back and threw their leader in their path. They bowled into each other and dropped to the ground. The stranger had a peculiar smile on his face as he slipped around their flailing bodies and over to me.
