It was the perfect first day of summer vacation. Mom was taking me shopping in Manhattan, a twenty-minute walk from out loft, and if you think about it, it's not really that bad of a walk compared to what we do in P&E.

"Those are some really cute shoes. Do you want to go in, Kimmy?" I glanced at the shoes in the window and saw the flats Mom was talking about. They were cute.

"Sure." We entered the air-conditioned building and immediately, I noted all the exits, windows, and security cameras. I guess my spy instincts never really go on summer vacation. Mom led me to the shoes section and I pulled out my size, a 7 1/2. I glanced out the big window in the front of the store. A little red headed girl was twirling in front of her smiling mother.

I smiled as well, I remember when I was that young, sort of. "What are you smiling about?"

"The little girl," I pointed.

"She's cute."

Just then, before my eyes, my mother's eyes, the little girl's mother's eyes, and a dozen other people's eyes, a man ran up from behind them and snatched the little girl from her mother's hands.

The mother screamed and I dropped my bags and the shoes I was holding. "Get me a pair!" I yelled as I sprinted out of the shoe store and after the kidnapper.

The mother was still screaming for someone to save her little girl, Lilly.

The voices and people around me faded away. I was focused only on my target. He wasn't getting away.

I followed him down the busy street, turned where he turned, dodged traffic, and deftly slipped through the crowds. I kept up with him, not overtaking him, even though I easily could. I wanted to get away from the busy streets so I couldn't hurt anyone in the process of retrieving the girl. I noted the street signs as he turned into a small back ally.

He darted around trashcans and kept on running, never looking back to see if he was being followed. I'm assuming he didn't hear me, which would account for him not turning around to look.

I caught a break when I followed him around the last corner to find a dead end. "Hey!" I called.

The man spun around, clutching Lilly a little tighter. "What do you want?" he asked, a little breathless.

"Put the girl down."

"She's my daughter, and she had to go, so if you would just leave, I can take care of this…" he trailed off.

"Nice try. I saw you snatch her from her mother in front of the shoe store. Put her down." The girl let out a squeak as he twisted her so that he was only holding onto her with one arm. I directed my attention to Lilly, "Do you know this man, sweetie?" She shook her head. "See. She doesn't know you. Put. Her. Down."

"Make me," he growled as he pulled a gun out of his pocket and placed against her head. Her eyes opened really wide as the hard but of the gun nudged her temple.

I didn't let the gun intimidate me. I couldn't. If I let it show on my face, he would have me, and as any spy knows, that's not good. So instead, I did the exact opposite of what I was feeling. I laughed. "You're not going to shoot her."

"Watch me."

"Trust me, you're not really going to shoot her."

"What makes you so sure of yourself?"

"I have my reasons."

"Well, you better share them, because this gun has six bullets, and it's only going to take one to kill this little girl."

"I can imagine you'd shoot me, but not her."

"Why not?"

"Ask nicely." I was inching forward toward him, without him realizing it.

"Tell me or else."

"That's not very nicely." I had to stall for a few more seconds, then I would have him."

"Because why would you shoot her when you went through all that trouble to get her? Me on the other hand, you don't want here. So I can imagine you wouldn't think too much about killing me. But that's where I have you. If you shoot me, I don't care." In truth, I really didn't want to be dead, but that's one of the things they teach you in Cove Ops, how to get a gun out of a target's hands. And when it was all boiled down, basically, you were stalling. "Now, put the girl down. I don't care if you still hang onto her hand, but take the gun away from her, point it at me for all I care. Besides, if you were going to ransom her back to her family, I don't think they would pay to much for her dead."

The man put the girl on the ground, his hand gripping her wrist quite tightly. He then shifted the but of the gun to me.

Perfect.

Before he realized what was going on, my foot was kicking the gun away from me, and out of his hand. He was no longer holding onto Lilly. "Lilly! Hide behind those trashcans. I'll come get you when it's safe! I yelled as I dodged punches. I threw one good punch at his chin and he was on the ground. It was one that even Mick would be proud of. Unfortunately, he landed on the ground next to the gun. He reached for it and got it in his hand, but not soon enough for him to aim it at me.

My foot was on his hand in a second, leaving him no time to recover, I punched him once more in the gut, just to make sure he wouldn't try anything funny. I pocketed the gun and turned to find something to tie him up with, without letting him out of my sight.

An old clothesline was dangling from a dumpster, and though it was gross, it would have to do. "Come on, you're staying here until the police show up." I yanked the rope from the dumpster and heaved the man to his feet and tied his hands behind his back in a knot that would not only take a while to untie, but too tight for him to get anywhere. I then tied him to the dumpster and made sure there wasn't anything he could cut it with in his reach.

"Lilly, you can come out now. We're going to go find your Mommy now." Her little auburn head warily eased around the trashcan. "Come here, I won't hurt you."

"Yes she will. Don't trust her!" the man yelled. Then I realized I should probably shove something in his mouth so no one would untie him.

"Be quiet." I tugged the scarf off my neck, wadded it up, and shoved it in his mouth. Lilly had started to wander over to me. "Do you want me to carry you back?" She nodded her little head. I picked her up and started to walk back to the main street, out of the maze of alleys that we had been drawn into.

When we could finally hear the roar of the street again, I sighed and said, "I guess I should call the police." I set Lilly on the ground and reached for my phone that was in my pocket, except, it wasn't there. It was in the little pocket. In my purse. With my Mom. In the shoe store. "Or maybe not. Come on, let's see if we can find a police officer." I picked Lilly and searched the crowds for a police car.

"There's one!" Lilly cried, pointing over my shoulder. I practically ran through the crowds, before he could get too far away.

"Hey! Hey! Mr. Police Officer!" I yelled above the crowds.

"Yes?"

"This is Lilly. She was almost kidnapped. And we need help finding her Mom. Can you please help us?"

"Yes, of course. Her mother is at the police office right now, I'll radio back to let her know she's alright. She is alright, right?"

"Yes, she might have a few bruises on her wrists, but otherwise she's fine. The would be kidnapper is worse."

The police officer radioed back to the station. "Where is the kidnapper by the way?"

"Tied to a dumpster in one of the dead end alleys back there," I pointed.

"I'll get right on it. Do you need to call anyone or need anything?"

"Yeah, could I call my mom and tell her where to pick me up?"

"Of course. And you're not hurt are you?"

"No. I'm fine."

"You'll need to come back to the station with me so you can tell me what happened."

"That'll be just fine."

I dialed my Mom's number and she picked up on the first ring. "Where are you?" she demanded into the phone.

"I'll be at the police station, I caught the kidnapper and rescued the little girl. Will you come pick me up?"

"Sure."

Now. I hope you liked it. And if you didn't figure it out, this is Kim's summer adventure! Sorry, I've never been to New York, or Manhattan, so if I insulted your city or something, I'm really really sorry! Please review!!