Jill glanced up. Another time, her brain might have been throwing out warnings: [I]Stranger. Male. Too close.[/I]

But right now, with the diner crumbling around them, it instead grasped for a lifeline: [I]Guy who seems to have his shit together.[/I]

She took the hand he offered her and let it pull her, unsteadily, to her feet. She realized, belatedly, that someone else had spoken to her—and was now making off with her bag.

"Hey!" Her voice shot up, once again into a higher register than she would have liked, but it was hard not to panic when she saw everything she currently owned in the hands of a stranger.

Then someone started smashing plates, and she flinched at the too-familiar sound, ducking her head.