Crime Scene 20.8 Bedtime. It’s for losers.
Tuesday. 8:00pm. Sirens’ Club.

Ellie was ready to apologize profusely, but remarkably, Shari came to their rescue.

When Ellie ran toward the fire and saw Geoff showing the Shari how to breathe fire, she was prepared for the worst. Alandrea was hurrying over from the other direction, coming in from the inner entrance. They met up at about the same time, as Geoff stood up, looking proud of himself. Shari turned, showing her mom a lighter in her hand, the tiny flame lighting up her face in the dark club. She was saying something, but the music made it hard to hear. Her exited smile however, spoke volumes. That alone probably prevented Ash and Gin from rushing Geoff on the spot, though they approached with caution in case they needed to intervene. Ellie fought down a bit of panic at the thought of Geoff going up against the Sinclairs’ security. Cory had been right about that early on. It would be extremely awkward if two of the factions she worked with came to blows.

Alandrea seemed to have an idea of what was going on. She waved off Ash and Gin, who immediately faded back into their usual work. Then she motioned for Geoff, Ellie, and the others to follow her and led them to a private lounge in the back where the music was muffled but still present.

Ellie gave Geoff a questioning look as they went. “Every kid needs a nightlight,” he said. Angie and Sia followed out of curiosity.

“Where’d you learn to breathe fire?” Sia asked.

Geoff thought hard about it. “I always wanted to join the circus as a kid.”

Alandrea took a seat, pulling Shari into her lap. The little girl was throwing sparks on the lighter, giggling in delight as she did. “Please, sit.”

The door to the lounge closed behind them, muffling the music outside. The room was mostly dark blue velvet with silver light fixtures. From her time cleaning, Ellie knew there was an emergency exit hidden behind the velvet walls leading into the kitchens. Rose said Tedros and some others used it to sneak in snack breaks on busy nights.

Ellie sat nervously, mind spinning to find a way to smooth things over but she didn’t know what had happened yet.

Alandrea’s expression was hard to read. “I saw the security footage. You were helping Shari hide.”

“Bedtime is for losers!” Shari declared. Geoff gave her a thumbs up.

“And then you took her into our nightclub.”

“It’s where the alcohol was.”

“And you gave her a lighter.”

Ellie was sinking into her seat with each sentence. “I’m sure there was a good reason….” The Gardners had been very careful about what they taught Ellie and her sister about the family’s illegal dealings when they were young. They didn’t learn basic lockpicking until the first grade. Of course, every family was different. She didn’t know what the Sinclairs’ intentions were for Shari, but she was definitely too young for arson.

They all looked at Geoff, but Shari spoke up. “It’s for the bad dreams.” She clutched at the lighter possessively.

Alandrea looked down at her daughter and hugged her tighter for a moment. “I see. We’re going to have to talk about fire safety. But are you going to bed now as long as you have the lighter?”

“Yes!”

Alandrea nodded with weary acceptance. “It’s a deal.” She looked at her guests politely, “That’s all right then. Have a good night. And thank you, Geoff, for the lighter.” And she left with Shari in tow.

“What just happened?”

Geoff shrugged. “I’m a hero, I guess.”

Ellie had heard about the bedtime troubles through the Sirens’ Dream group chat. She looked between Geoff and the happy little girl with a lighter. “You did good,” patting him awkwardly on the arm. She did not notice that behind their eyes, Angie and Sia were spinning yarns and fresh theories at full speed.

“Yeah?”

“But don’t do it again.” The thought of the near clash with security still haunted her. Then she noticed something about his posture. "Let's go. You're drunk. Sorry, Angie, Sia. We'll see you next time."

Angie and Sia just nodded, eerily in sync. "Sure, we'll stick around here and...study."

On the way out, she checked with Gin about Darla. She was no longer in line. He gave Geoff an appraising look before turning back to Ellie. “Yeah, she had a fake ID and tried to bribe me to let her in.” He waved a wad of hundreds with a smirk. “We had her escorted off the premises and threatened to call the cops. Guess she was up to no good, ‘cause she got out of here real quick. Watched her go down the road just in case.”

So, Darla wasn’t above faking IDs anymore. Such a hypocrite. Ellie nodded her thanks and half-dragged Geoff off before another crisis could strike. In the car, Geoff dozed off almost immediately.

Ellie snorted. "Lightweight." ¹It was a food coma! -GC