Crime Scene 20.7 A Nightlight.
Tuesday. 7:40 pm. Lobby.

Geoff sat at a table laden with small snacks and multiple drinks. “Thanks!” He grinned as Marina dropped off the last tray. As she walked away, he picked up a mug of hot chocolate loaded with extra whipped cream and sprinkles with a waffle straw the barely poked out. Instead of drinking it, he held it behind his armchair under the cover of the oversized textbook. A pair of small hands reached up and took it.

“Yesss!” Shari whispered from her hiding spot.

Her aunt or mom—Geoff wasn’t sure which—walked by. “Have you seen Shari? I thought I saw her run into the kitchen, but she’s not there.”

“The little kid that was here earlier?” Geoff took a bite of an egg sandwich. “Nope. I think she went that way.” He pointed toward the fancy elevators.

“Hm, I hope so. It’s past her bedtime.” The lady in blue walked off.

Geoff chewed until she rounded the corner, headed toward the elevators. He picked up a jello cake cup, another request from Shari and handed it to her. “You’re staying out past bedtime?”

She spoke through a bite of the cake. “Yeah.”

“Not sleepy?”

She scrunched up her face. “A little.”

“Is it bedtime after you finish your snack and drink?”

Shari hesitated. “Maybe…can you make the nightmares stay away?”

Geoff was no stranger to nightmares. He considered himself a pro. He put on what he called the “professional consultation face.” “Hm, what kind of nightmares?”

The little girl hugged her mug of hot chocolate closer. “Cold…and rainy and windy.”

And what was the opposite of the cold and rain? He grinned. “I have the perfect thing.”

They had to get a hold of some alcohol first. Unfortunately, the Sinclair guy was manning the nearest bar.

Shari informed him that the club also made adult drinks. They would have to sneak there, however. Impressively, the shrimp was pretty good at stealthing and they got into the club with minimal fuss. She probably did it a lot, living at the hotel. Geoff had to steal the entry pass off Ellie’s phone, but it looked like she was already in, so it didn’t matter.

The inside (did it count as ‘inside’ if they only had shiny sails as a roof?) of the club was loud, full of old people and old people music. Some of them were even his gramps’ age or older. It wasn’t too crowded, and most people were too busy looking at the lights or their phones to notice the little kid clinging onto Geoff’s leg. However, the bartenders were a little bit more observant. The one nearby, with aqua blue hair clearly spotted Shari. The kid tried her shushing move and the bartender pretended to go along with it, but Geoff saw her texting urgently behind the bar. They only had a few minutes before an adult came to take the kid away without causing a scene.

He strolled to the bar and ordered two of the flaming drinks as if nothing was wrong, flashing his standard fake ID. Aqua-hair served the drinks like nothing was wrong. She pushed the drinks over to him, he tapped his phone for payment. He didn’t expect to stay long.

Pulling away from the bar slightly, he eyed the canopy above. Seemed high enough. Taking both drinks, he knelt down to the kid’s eye level. “So, here’s what you do. Stand over there.”

He blew out the first flaming cocktail and poured it into his mouth, storing it in his cheeks. Then, he dipped two fingers into the second drink and picked up a bit of flame. Pointing up, he blew a stream of flame into the sky. The crowed finally looked up from their phone, gasping. One excitable person screamed. Somewhere on the floor, Geoff heard a familiar voice say his name.

He blew a few more bursts of flame before the heat got too much and he swallowed the rest of the drink. It burned a little less than the fire.

Shari watched the whole thing in open amazement.

“See? Fire scares away all the monsters that cause bad dreams.” He crouched down to her level and presented the kid a lighter. Nothing special, it was just a common one he kept on hand…just in case. “Here, you just flick it open like this, and press really hard on the wheel here. Use two hands. There ya go!” He beamed as Shari uplifted a little flame in her hands with the light sparkling in her eyes.