He bolted, of course.
Then jerked to a halt with a startled “Oof!” as the lasso snapped taut at his waist. Skeeter grabbed him and trussed him up, wrists behind his back, in less time than it took the man to regain his balance. The pickpocket stood there sputtering in shock, completely inarticulate for long seconds; then a flood of invective broke loose, crude and predictable.
Skeeter cut him off with a ruthless jerk on his bound wrists. “That’s about enough, buddy. We’re going to go find the nearest Security officer and explain to him why you’ve got this lady’s property in your pocket. Your technique stinks, by the way. Am-a-teur. Oh, and by the way? You’re gonna love the isolation cells in this place. Give you plenty of time to consider a career change.” Skeeter turned toward the astonished tourist. “Ma’am, if you’d be good enough to come with us? Your testimony will see this rat behind bars and, of course, you’ll have your property returned. I’m real sorry this happened, ma’am.”
Her mouth worked for a moment, then tears sprang to her eyes and a torrent of Spanish flooded loose, the gist being that Skeeter was the kindest soul in the world and how could she ever repay him and it had taken her ten years to save the money for this trip, gracias, muchas, muchas gracias, señor . . .
The stunned disbelief in Mike Benson’s eyes when Skeeter handed over his prisoner and eyewitness at the Security office was worth almost as much as the woman’s flood of gratitude. Skeeter swore out his deposition and made certain the lady’s property was safely returned, then turned down the reward she tried to give him. Broke he might be, but he hadn’t done it for the money and did not want to start accepting cash rewards for one of the few decent things he’d ever done in his life. Mike Benson’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull when Skeeter simply smiled, kissed the lady’s hand gallantly, leaving the proffered money in her fingers, and strode out of Security HQ feeling nine feet tall. For the first time since Ianira’s disappearance, he didn’t feel helpless. He might never be able to find Ianira Cassondra or Marcus and their children; but there was something he could do, something he knew she’d have been proud of him for doing.