Maya’s fingers closed around the thief’s wrist.
For the first time since he had stepped out from beside the alley, the man in the gray hoodie stopped moving forward.
His eyes dropped to her hand.
He had expected resistance from the bag.
He had expected a frightened woman pulling one way while he pulled the other.
He had expected noise, panic, maybe a few useless seconds of struggle before the strap slipped free.
What he had not expected was Maya stepping into him.
She pivoted on her heel.
Her left hand tightened around his wrist as she turned with the direction of his pull instead of against it.
His shoulder came forward.
His elbow straightened.
The force he had created suddenly had nowhere safe to go.
Maya rotated his wrist downward.
The thief’s smug expression collapsed.
“Wait—”
His knees hit the concrete.
The sound was heavy enough to make the woman near the pharmacy door flinch.
His free hand slapped the pavement to keep himself from falling completely forward.
His other arm remained extended, trapped between Maya’s grip and his own awkward position.
The leather tote was still hanging from her shoulder.
It had barely moved.
Leo stared at his mother, the pharmacy receipt crushed between his fingers.
Maya did not look triumphant.
She did not shout.
She did not hit the man.
She simply kept control of his wrist and said, “Let go of my bag.”
The thief’s fingers opened.
Immediately.
The strap dropped back against Maya’s side.
“Okay,” he gasped.
“Okay.”
Maya loosened the pressure just enough to keep him from panicking, but not enough to let him wrench free.
Then she looked at Leo.
“Stay by the door.”
Leo nodded quickly.
The woman who had frozen near the entrance moved toward him instead of away.
She placed herself between the boy and the edge of the sidewalk while another customer inside the pharmacy hurried toward the counter.
The thief noticed the movement through the glass.
His breathing changed.
“Come on,” he said.
“I dropped it.
I’m done.”
“You didn’t drop anything,” Maya replied.
“You let go when I told you to.”
“I said I’m done.”
He tried to rise.
Maya shifted her weight.
He stopped.
The movement was so small that Leo almost missed it.
One moment the man was starting to stand; the next he was back on one knee, staring at the pavement as if it had betrayed him.
“Don’t,” Maya said.
There was no anger in her voice.
That seemed to unsettle him more than shouting would have.
He twisted his head toward the alley.
It was only a few yards away.
A few seconds earlier, he had probably imagined disappearing into it with Maya’s tote swinging from one hand.
