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Harvey lets out a low grunt before releasing me and stepping back to open the door for me to slip into the back seat. Dooley is watching me wide eyed, in shock.Me too, old man. I get in the car and wait, trying to steady my breathing, as Harvey rounds the back and drops into the seat next to me. I stare out the window and refuse to acknowledge the man at my side or my feelings toward him.
My hands are curled into loose fists in my lap, and I nearly jump when something touches my leg. Harvey’s hand rests flat on the leather seat between us and his little finger reverently touches my thigh. I stare at the contact for a long moment before turning to him, his amber eyes fix on to mine and something passes between us that feels monumental. Once again, I don’t have enough time to evaluate it before the car lurches to a stop. I have to slap my palm on the back of the seat in front to stop from head butting it and Harvey’s arm shoots out to hold me back.
“Dooley?” I call at my blinking driver. He stares out the windscreen, slack jawed and pale.
“I…I…I’m sorry ma’am, there were two…two children. I think I hit one. Oh gosh, oh goodness…I don’t know what to do.”
I look out the windows, we’re in a mostly residential area with little to no street lighting and it’s very dark out being midnight. Harvey pats the old man on the shoulder in a soothing gesture. “Stay here. Both of you.” He levels me with a serious glare.
Of course, I don’t listen, swinging my door open just after he gets out. He bares his teeth in annoyance when he looks at me from over the top of the car, but he doesn’t say anything. There’s nothing at the front of the car, in fact, there’s nothing and no one around at all. Harvey crouches down to inspect the car andI take in our surroundings; a row of rundown houses gives way to a string of shops, all eerily empty and dark at this late hour. In the middle of the parade is an alleyway and as my eyes sweep over the black space, a movement makes me pause. I take off in that direction, my heels clacking against the tarmac and my dress billowing around my legs.
“Annika!” Harvey shouts after me, followed by a grumbled, “For fuck’s sake.”
At the mouth of the alley, a homeless person lies on the dank floor, wrapped in newspapers and a sleeping bag. When I approach, he wakes and scrambles to a sitting position with his back against the brick wall. He eyes me warily but says nothing and I pass him with no more than a second glance. The ground is dirty and littered with rubbish, some of which would be overspill from the two large dumpsters lined against one wall. There are also needles and a couple used condoms lying about and I turn my nose up at the smell of the damp trash.
“I swear to God, if you keep walking away from me—” I cut off Javier’s tirade with a hand in front of his face and a glare to tell him that I am in charge here.
A small whimpering sound followed by quiet hushing draws me further into the darkness. At the end of the passage, huddled behind one of the dumpsters, is a young girl cradling a child to her chest.
“Holy shit,” Harvey whispers behind me.
The girl’s eyes snap up, going wide when she sees us looking at her and she tries backing away further into the wall. It’s hard to see with no light, I can only just make out faint shapes of her face and the white of her eyes.
“Hey, hey,” Harvey cajoles, going into cop mode. He steps in front of me and starts to crouch in front of her, but panic flares and she scrabbles around on the floor before wielding whateverweapon she can find in his face. He jerks back just in time to avoid a dirty needle in his eye.
“No! No! No! No!” the girl screams on repeat, staring at Harvey with such fear it snaps me into action. I pull him up and back so I’m once again in front of him.
“Annika,” he warns trying to pull me back again, but I shrug him off.
“Stop talking,” I command with the same flat tone I use with my employees and to my utter surprise, he listens.
I turn back to the girl, still brandishing the needle with a shaking hand. I stay quiet for a moment or two, trying to get a gage on her. Now that my eyes have adjusted to the light, I can see the child in her arm is bigger than I thought, wrapped around her and burying their face in her chest. The whimpering sound I’d heard was coming from the smaller child, who is still crying, but I can’t see their face.
“My driver believes he hit you with the car, are either of you hurt?” I ask calmly and professionally.
“No,” she shouts again. The shaking in her hand worsens and the thought of her holding that needle doesn’t sit right in my stomach. I pull my dress to one side to free the knife I have strapped to the thigh not exposed by the slit. I offer it to her handle first and her brow furrows in confusion.
“That needle is probably diseased and more a danger to you holding it than it is to me.” Not entirely true if she did manage to stab me with it, but I’m going with it. “You clearly feel the need to protect yourself, and I would much rather you did so with a sanitary weapon.” I jerk my chin at the needle.
She takes the knife cautiously but doesn’t drop the needle until the knife is firmly in her hand. Smart girl. The knife stays pointed at me, but her shaking seems to have subsided slightly, still confused that I would have given her a weapon.
“There, now you’re armed, and I am not.” I clasp my hands together at my front in an attempt not to appear intimidating. I can feel Harvey at my back but every time he moves forward, the girl’s eyes widen and I have to turn to glare at him in warning. Looking back to her I ask, “Why are you wondering the streets at this time of the night?”
She doesn’t answer, just shakes her head.
“Where are your parents?”
She swallows hard and seems to think for a second before answering. “Dead.”
“Then who is responsible for you?” I try to keep my tone calm.
Again, no answer, just a small shake of her head.
I sigh, trying to think. “You have three options. I cannot in good conscience leave you here, where it’s unsafe. So, you can tell me who is responsible for you and we can call them to come and collect you, you can give me an address of where I can drop you off, or you can come with me until I figure out who should be looking after you myself andthenI will ensure you are returned to them.”
She thinks for a second, eyes darting from side to side. “I…I’ll tell you where to drop us off.”
I narrow my eyes at her in suspicion. “I will be ensuring you’re handed over to an adult.”
