Only one real exit existed—through the tent’s flap and out into the circus camp.
Two steps from freedom, she crashed full force into a man’s short, lithe, muscular body. He took one wide-eyed look at her and then grinned.
Wasn’t he one of the aerialists she’d watched at yesterday’s show? Great. Now they were going to have the circus as well as the law after them. She should have known that ifshewouldn’t have allowed her characters an easy escape, God wouldn’t either.
Before she knew what had happened or how, her feet left the ground and her body flew through the air like she was an aerialist herself.
Only her flight didn’t include grabbing a trapeze.
CHAPTER2
WHY DID HE ALWAYS GETthe runners?
Officer Abraham Hall pushed faster in pursuit of the second member of the aerialist burglar duo. Officer Zimmerman had nabbed the first, but this second one was proving wilier. Lucian, Abraham’s best friend and former partner, would be merciless in his circus jokes once he found out about tonight’s chase.
Abraham pivoted around the corner and darted through the tent’s still-swinging flap.
Only a few feet in front of him, his suspect heaved and flung something—no, someone—Abraham’s direction.
The person slammed into his midsection before he could dodge.
Air exploded from Abraham’s lungs. His feet went out from under him, and he landed on his back, a suffocating weight sprawled across his chest. He lifted his head, and brown trousers and a bright red shirt obscured his view. Dark eyes blinked owlishly at him from a white-painted face.
A clown.
Of course he’d been accosted by a clown. He hated clowns. With a shove, he freed himself, twisting to focus on the escaping burglar, now several yards away.
Another, much-smaller clown blocked the aerialist’s path. Undeterred, the man shoved the obstacle aside only to be met with another in the form of … a three-legged goat? He tumbled over the goat’s back.
That ought to slow—
But no. Somehow the cheat managed to tuck his body into a roll and pop back to his feet instead of landing face-first like a normal person.
This whole night was a farce. Vaudeville couldn’t have come up with more buffoonery.
Abraham groaned as he pushed up from the ground. The mayor would have his head—and his job—if he didn’t catch the fiends who’d been burglarizing the homes of the wealthy since the circus had arrived.
Shaking his head, he started after the aerialist again, but the smaller clown cut in front of him. He avoided the boy but collided with the goat.
Once again, he hit the ground—this time with the beast’s only back leg bucking against his shoulder. Would this never end?
Elephants trumpeted as Officer Yount cut between them and the camels.
Abraham twisted away from the goat, and his foot slipped. Was that … excrement? His stomach lurched. By the size of the pile, it had to be an elephant’s. He pulled his foot free and scraped it along the ground. He could just imagine Lucian’s take on this.
Where was the good God he served? Of course, things could have been worse. He could have landed face-first in the vile stuff.
Yount angled toward the escaping aerialist, and Abraham charged to his feet to help corner the suspect against the wagons.
The aerialist ran faster, leaped against the side of the nearest wagon, and clasped a ring at the top. He swung and contorted to drop on top of the small red-and-gold wagon next to it. The force of his landing and the weight of his body tipped it over. The wagon cracked against the ground, and a side door swung open.
Three angry, screeching monkeys burst forth.
Two of them launched at Abraham. He ducked when he should have dodged, giving one the perfect perch on the back of his head. The other clambered up his front and dug into his pockets. Before he could grab the monkey on his front, the one on his head started jumping and slapping its tiny hands against him, all while screaming at a deafening pitch. Abraham reached behind him to fling it off, but the wretched beast gripped fistfuls of hair and swung around without letting go. Abraham would end up either bald or with a massive headache. Likely both.
“Get off him!” A female voice cut through the screeches. A thwack followed, and the monkey released its grip and flew through the air.
With one tormentor gone, Abraham wrapped his hands around the other, still busy picking his pockets, and hurled it.
