“I don’t mind staying away from the action,” said Javier. “I was never much one for swinging punches, anyway. Used to get the stuntman to do all my fight scenes. Fat slob he was, a full head taller than me, but I’d still be able to sell it in the close-ups. I don’t think anyone noticed.”

“Everyone noticed,” said Virgil.

“I noticed,” said Warrick.

“Me, too,” said Milo.

“Yep,” said Javier, “nobody noticed.”

Chapter 34

AMBER SAT ON THE BED in the spare room, ignoring the pain in her shoulder and tracing her fingers over the contours of the brass key. Her eyes were closed and her mind was filled with a single image – the doors they’d passed through when they’d been taken to see Jesper. At first, she’d tried to picture the ornately carved entryway into the mayor’s mansion, but the carvings were too intricate for her memory, and she felt that anything less than absolute certainty would bring her back to Naberius’s cell underground. She didn’t want to go back there again.

So she focused on the double doors leading into the drawing room. She could see these much more clearly, could still see Jesper’s butler, whatever his name was, the guy with the burn mask, reaching for the handles, opening them. She felt confident that the picture was clear enough in her head. Fairly confident, at least.

Mildly confident, then.

The door to the spare room opened and Kelly came in, her hair still wet from the shower. “All set?” she asked.

Amber nodded, and stood. “I’m ready.”

“Milo says you’re leaving in five. We’ll be going shortly after. I swear, this is military precision compared to our usual way of working.”

“More casual, is it?”

“We have a Warrick and a dog. It pretty much has to be. How’s your shoulder?”

Amber gave a big smile. “Really, really painful, thanks.”

“I bet,” Kelly responded. “Take your shirt off.”

Amber blinked. “Uh … Sorry?”

“Your shoulder,” Kelly said, opening the medical bag on the side table. “I have to change the dressing.”

“Oh right. Yeah.”

Kelly stood there, waiting, while Amber stood there, not moving. “So you gonna take it off, or are you waiting for me to take mine off first?”

Amber’s laugh was forced, even to her ears. “No, no, you don’t have to do that.”

“Pity,” said Kelly.

Amber didn’t know how to respond to that. She grabbed the ends of both her sweatshirt and T-shirt, and hesitated. “I don’t know how I’m going to do this gracefully one-handed,” she admitted.

“Here,” Kelly said, stepping forward, “I’ll help.”