Page 28 of Dancing in the Dark

A sleek black SUV pulls up at the curb, and like magic, Mia sits tall again and flashes a bright smile. “Huh! I guess I needed a hug. Guess what?”

You… she… I… “Huh?”

“Ms. Lewis?” A man in a crisp black suit and dark sunglasses opens the SUV’s back door. “I’ll take you wherever you’d like to go.”

I wrap my arms tighter around Mia’s tiny body. “I-I don’t know you.”

“I know him!” Infinitely skilled in monkeying around, Mia turns her pliable body into a pin, drops to her feet, and snatches her backpack from the crook of my arm. “That’s Alfred. Let’s go.”

“Alfred?” I yank her to a stop. “Your name is Alfred?”

Chuckling, he slowly lifts his sunglasses and reveals eyes almost the same color as a summer sky. “My name is Stephen, actually. But Mia said she already knows a Steve, and knowing too many is confusing.”

“So she dubbed you Alfred?”

“Like from Batman.” She tugs on my arm and gains another few inches closer to the kidnap-mobile. “I don’t know any Alfreds in real life, and I asked him nicely if it would be okay that I called him Alfred, like from Batman.” She whips her head up and down in an enthusiastic nod. “He said it was fine. Come on, Fifi! Afternoons don’t have very long, and then you’ll go home again.”

“But—”

Alfred drops his glasses back into place and links his hands together. “Ma’am, I’m employed by the Malones. You can call any of the five, and they would vouch for me.”

“But— Charlie— Mia—” I’m lost. So lost. “Huh?”

“Cato said not to worry your pretty little head about it.” Mia wrenches on my arm and drags me all the way to the SUV, releasing me only long enough to climb into the back, then she folds back this way and pins me with a look that demands I stop screwing around. “Get in the car, Fifi. Alfred isn’t even s’posed to park here, cos this is where the buses come. If you take too long, he might get a ticket, and if he gets a ticket again cos of me, Cato said I can’t have dessert for a whole day.”

Alfred’s lips twitch playfully. “An entire day can feel like a very long time for a five-year-old who enjoys sweet treats.”

“Does your father know you have a private frickn’ chauffeur?” Frustrated, confused, curious, I slide into the back of the SUV and grit my teeth at the loud honking of a big yellow bus attempting to park where we are.

Alfred closes my door and jogs around to the front, so while he climbs in and starts the engine, I lean across Mia and scowl at the crappy setup they have back here. “You should be in a five-point harness, Ms. Fletcher. Not a grown-up’s seat.” I fasten her seat belt and work on mine second. “If Alfred has an accident—” I brush my fingertips across the front of her throat, right where her belt sits. “You’re gonna get really, really hurt, baby.” I look to the front. “Cato assigned you to drive Mia around?”

He drops his chin and maneuvers the car through a crowd of children and their parents. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Right, well, although Cato may control the purse strings on this one, he’s still only nineteen, and not experienced enough to know children die in car accidents every damn day. She will not ride with you again until you’ve had an appropriate seat professionally installed. Are we clear?”

Chagrined, he dips his chin. “Yes, ma’am.”

“You’re really good at being bossy.” Giggling, Mia wraps her arms around mine and snuggles against my side. “Also, you didn’t guess when I said guess what?”

“What?”

She tilts her head back and pushes a loose tooth forward with the tip of her tongue. “It’s nearly ready to come out! It’ll happen in the next few days, I fink!”

Oh, God. Gag.

“And do you know what happens after that?”

I worked in a friggin’ morgue. I do not have a weak stomach. And yet…

Gag.

“Fifi? You didn’t guess!”

I’m sweating. On my spine. Under my boobs. My feet are sweating!

Mia huffs and looks toward the front. “Alfred, what happens after my tooth falls out?”

“I believe the Tooth Fairy pays a visit, Miss Fletcher.”