Free A Dangerous Dance by Pauline Baird Jones

in the nighttime zoo.
    She'd been here only once before, making a solo appearance for Magus. A daytime, Cajun thing. There'd been special food booths and pockets of music in a variety of styles. Despite the cushion of handlers steering her around, she'd enjoyed it very much. The zoo was beautifully laid out and invited exploration.
    This zoo was nothing like that memory. It didn't even seem like the same place, with areas of deep dark surrounding places of brilliant light. Her first, awful thought was how easy it would be to kill someone here. There was too much of everything: people, noise, light and dark. And in the dark, out of sight, wild animals watched them, or at least if felt like they did. Yes, they were caged, but that didn't comfort somehow. All around her, the humid air throbbed with the emotions of the excited crowd.
    At her side, Remy stopped to consult the map in the program. “Looks like the closest food area is this way. You snooze, you lose if you don't eat early and often. You hungry?”
    He'd been looking around, his gaze alert and interested, but now he was staring right at her. For a moment, it felt like she zoomed in from some distant place, arriving intensely aware of everything, but mostly him. And the sharp bite of hunger, kicked up by the luscious smell of food.
    She nodded. “Yeah, I'm hungry.”
    It was a short walk along a lighted path. Dorothy kept looking past the light, trying to pierce the intense dark and being defeated by it. At first she thought it was distant thunder, growing closer, but as they emerged into a circle of light and food, she realized it was voices. Hundreds of voices, some bright, some frantic, all intense and all rising in a vain attempt to be heard.
    Around the circle were tables, each area defined by a particular chef from famous local restaurants, each serving up petite portions of their signature dishes. Across from them, Dorothy saw a chafing dish of Bananas Foster flare up against the dark sky before fading back into the silver chafing dish.
    Without conscious decision, they moved into a line and were soon blending the tastes of jambalaya, tender steak, and a variety of seafood dishes. The tastes and smells were as heady as the setting. As she spooned up frosty ice cream topped with the Bananas Foster, she watched Remy meet and greet a couple. Their words were lost in the din, but when their gazes flicked her way, it wasn't hard to figure out the subject. She smiled and moved to join them. She never heard their names or what they said to her, but she shook hands and smiled, nodding agreement to who knew what.
    With Remy's hand warm against her back, she let herself be steered out of the bright circle to another lighted path. “What did I just agree to?” she asked with her mouth against his ear..
    Remy chuckled. “Nothing important. We're doing good. After tonight, the rumors will be flying. Won't be surprised if we're secretly married by morning.”
    He consulted a map. “The tents are this way.” He steered her past a sign that pointed to the snake house. “And the dancing, if you're up for it.”
    It was only now, when they were clear of the crowd that she again became aware of Titus following behind them. Dorothy looked back. “I hope you tried some of the food.”
    He pretended he hadn't heard, as his gaze swept from side to side. “This place is a security nightmare.”
    “You'd be in a better mood if you'd eaten something.” Dorothy felt her tension level ease as his kicked up a notch. Now they emerged into another area of lights, but this one was characterized by tent-like booths in long rows. Each one had tables inside the tented area, food and drinks set up and portable toilets in the rear and with the name of the sponsor printed on a banner swathed around the base. As they made their way along the rows, searching for the one sponsored by Remy's radio station, Dorothy saw Bozo and Bubba again, in separate booths kitty-corner from each other. They