“We’re back.” Linnea’s face is taut, as if someone has edited her in Photoshop. “Shall we go?”

Kate nods. “Is everything okay?”

“Fine,” says Linnea, but her voice sounds strained. Did something happen outside?

“We’re going to do it,” says Lucas. “I’m going with Linnea.”

“You?” I ask in surprise. Did they decide that outside?

“You’re playing, Kate’s watching, Linnea goes to the balcony, and I grab Claus.” Lucas makes it sound so simple that I almost believe it.

“Are you sure?” asks Kate.

“Yes.” Lucas looks at me. “And please play it like the musical genius you are.”

The grand piano in the lobby gleams at me. I intertwine my fingers, which are shaking nonstop. What if I can’t do it? Sure, I can get a tune out of a piano, but the guitar has always been my instrument.

“Does everyone know what to do?” Kate looks at all three of us.

It’s quiet in the lobby. I really hope more people will come along soon.

What if Claus realizes what we’re up to? What if he notices that Linnea isn’t coming alone?

I look up at the first balcony out of the corner of my eye. There’s no one there, and definitely not a boy with black hair and glasses.

“Yes, we do,” says Lucas. “Don’t we?”

Everyone nods. Linnea’s face is still tense.

Is she scared? I want to tell her she doesn’t have to sacrifice herself, but this is her own choice. She doesn’t have to go along with Claus’s plan, whatever it is.

“Then let’s do it. And please be careful,” Kate says to Linnea.

“I will.” Linnea’s voice sounds flat. “Hey, Spinner’s got this.”

Spinner?

“Fender, go.” Kate gives me a gentle push. I can’t ask what Linnea meant, because now it’s time for me to give the performance of my life.

Everything depends on how well I do this. I have to make sure I get the attention of everyone in the entire hotel.

The grand piano seems twice as big as it did this afternoon. How am I supposed to play this thing?

The last time I played piano was in the music room at school. She and I often used to go there when we wanted to be alone for a while.

She would always sit and watch me play. Sometimes she’d come and stand behind me halfway through the song and put her arms around me.

She’d playfully bite my earlobe until I had to stop because I couldn’t concentrate.

I sit down on the stool, which creaks quietly under my weight.

I can see myself in the gleaming surface of the piano. Big, scared eyes.

The keys are so clean and white that it’s like no one has ever played it before. I gently stroke them, my breath coming in starts.