For the first two weeks after starting to work fulltime for the Powells, Dirk spent his evenings on the streets. He knew what he was looking for. The street kid who left a store with something they hadn’t purchased—without being stopped for theft. The kid, male or female, who casually walked by a group of people in a coffee shop or a fast food joint and managed to leave with a laptop or a bag that someone had set on the floor, or chair next to them. None of that happened often, but when it did, Dirk followed the thief. Usually, the kid turned the stolen property over to an adult in exchange for a few dollars. Then they were back on the street, either looking for something else to steal, or going back to the alley or squat they called home.
He eventually settled on three kids, all in their
