him in sight.
She ducked behind a rain barrel when he stopped, keeping her eyes on his back. Maybe she should just go to the jail and warn Jake. But if she did, this fellow would be long gone. No, she’d try to get a look at his face or at least track him to wherever he stopped. Then she’d go get Jake.
She took stock of her surroundings, didn’t see or hear anything, and hurried to keep up with her quarry. All she wanted was one good look at his face. He took off again and cut down an alley. Livy followed, amazed that he didn’t watch his back.
The closer she got, the more concerned she became that maybe this was one of the boys who lived on the streets after all. He didn’t look as big as the thief she’d seen the other night.
Uncertainty filled her. Had she been wrong about them all this time? She’d defended those boys because she’d been convinced they would steal only for food and clothing, to keep from freezing to death. Maybe Jake had been right and she’d been duped.
All of a sudden, he flattened himself against the nearest wall. Livy crouched behind a wagon, her narrowed gaze watching. Then it dawned on her. He was following someone else. No wonder he hadn’t been concerned about checking behind him. He moved forward again, this time darting away as if his prey hurried on ahead.
Livy gave chase, not wanting to lose sight of him. This must be one of the boys she’d been trying to talk to. But whom could he be following? Moments later, she reached the edge of a building and peered around it. Ahead, the boy hunkered down against a corral fence beside a ramshackle barn a hundred yards away. She followed his line of vision. Someone slipped into the barn. She hurried forward, determined to talk to him.
The boy was so focused on watching the barn, she could reach out and touch him before he realized she was there. “Don’t move,” she whispered.
The boy jumped but didn’t run. “Who are you?”
“You should know who I am.” Hopefully, he wouldn’t bolt until she got some answers out of him.
He glanced at her. She could barely make out his features in the darkness, but he couldn’t be more than ten or twelve. His eyes widened. “You’re the woman from the orphanage.”
“Yes.”
“How’d you sneak up on me?”
“You were so busy watching whoever you’re trailing that it wasn’t too much trouble. I followed you halfway across town,” she whispered. “Now, who are you following and why?”
He turned and focused on the barn, not answering.
“My name’s Livy O’Brien. What’s yours?”
Still no answer.
“After all I’ve done for you and the others, you can at least tell me your name.”
He threw her a look. “You took the watch.”
“You stole it off Mr. Russell. It wasn’t yours to keep.”
For a moment, he didn’t answer her; then he uttered one word. “Luke.”
“Nice to meet you, Luke.”
“How’d you know?”
“Know what?”
“That we tag-teamed the deputy and stole his watch.” He laughed, a soft sound. “We didn’t know he was a deputy at the time, or we wouldn’t have done it. So how could you tell?”
“I can do that maneuver in my sleep.”
He looked at her then, really looked at her. “You’re joshing.”
“I’m not.” She grinned. “How long before you realized the watch was missing?”
He squirmed. “Long enough. For a while, I thought I’d dropped it somewhere along the way, but it was too risky to go back and look for it.”
“You’re right. It was too risky. And it was even riskier for you to steal the thing in the first place. What I can’t figure out is why. Why steal something like that? And why steal a watch from McIver’s and those guns from the gunsmith?”
“We—I never stole nothing else since we took the watch from the deputy.”
“That’s not what the townspeople think.”
“I know.” He cut his eyes at her. “Do you believe me?”
“I do. I lived on the streets of Chicago, and I know the last thing you want is for people to suspect you of stealing and come after you.”
He nodded, seeming to realize that she really did know the kind of life he lived. “How’d you, uh . . . how’d you get off the streets?”
Livy put her hand on his coat sleeve. “I learned to trust someone. We all have to do that at some point.”
He shrugged her hand off and focused on the barn. “I done that