Despite his dislike of Seb, Alex was glad to get the confirmation. The building’s service elevator was accessed from the loading bays where deliveries were made. He’d already earmarked that route as the team’s most likely way in: if there was a weak spot in the building’s security, he was pretty sure it would be there.

Liz brushed a strand of dark hair from her pale face. “How’d you get the blueprints, anyway? Aren’t they classified now, with the Council staying there?”

Alex was studying the delivery entrance that led to the bays; he felt itchy with impatience to go check it out in person. “Town hall – I told them I was a design student, interested in how the building uses that half-moon shape. And yeah, they’re supposed to be, but the clerk thought it must have been a mistake.” It had been a stroke of luck, though Alex knew he wouldn’t like to be the clerk once the error was found out.

“Well, I found out something today too,” said Kara. He glanced up; he could see her excitement. “I followed a couple of the Church secretaries at lunchtime, and got a table next to them at the cafe. The reception’s still going ahead on the last afternoon of the Council’s stay here, on the nineteenth. They were both hoping they’d get to go.”

Alex felt his shoulders slump. Relief – that had been the one piece of information they couldn’t do without. “Okay, excellent,” he said. “So that’s still the best time for us to break in and make our move, since we know they’ll be in their angel forms during the private audiences.”

“And you definitely don’t think we can just get invited to the reception again?” ventured Trish.

Alex had been racking his brains for days trying to think of a way. “I don’t see how, without someone on the inside helping us. No one’s even supposed to know the Council’s here.” He massaged his eyes; he’d hardly slept these last couple of nights.

The team fell silent, digesting this. Glancing at Willow, Alex saw the sympathetic support in her gaze; it felt as if she’d reached over and squeezed his hand. She understood, if no one else did, how worried he was about all of this. Fleetingly, he wondered how the hell his father had managed it – being in charge on his own, with no one to confide in.

“So we need all the information we can get our hands on,” he summed up. “Whether the same schedule for the reception is still being followed; floor plans for the VIP level; where exactly the private audiences are going to take place; any security details we can find out – anything.”

Kara nodded. “The only people who’ll know will be the Church officials. The preacher, maybe one or two others.”