Red was due any minute, and Drake had hoped to send him out today to follow the bloke. But with no bloke to follow, what was he to do?

He paced the flat, which he’d been doing as much as he could manage. He had eventually made it up the stairs the other day, but he probably wouldn’t have, had Red not been helping him. And that wouldn’t do. Not for long. Who knew what he might have to do to evade Jaeger?

The doctor had told him not to push—but then, the doctor had also praised his progress when he did push, saying that morning, “See there? The proper amount of rest and your body heals itself.”

Ha. He’d given up on rest and had taken to walking whenever he wasn’t working. Around the flat, down the corridor outside their door, down a few stairs and then back up. Not many at a time—he wouldn’t strand himself and then have to listen to Dot berating him for it. But a few, repeated, was the same as more in the long run.

He slanted a glance at the table. Beside his stacks of newly decoded intelligence that he’d been reading through today, he had another letter he’d ask Red to post, to Margot. He’d sent a new one each day, and she had to be getting them. She’d be coming for dinner tonight. And whether she addressed the subject or not, he’d at least make sure the letter wasn’t just sitting there. That would be awkward.

At least if she wanted to pretend she didn’t know they were from him. Though she must.

A knock sounded on the door, and Drake was able to get to it in almost normal time. He opened it with a smile for Red, who was positively beaming back.

“I’ve found a position!”

“Come in.” Drake stepped back and motioned his friend in. “That’s wonderful news. Where?”

“The prosthetics factory—the one owned by Lord Whitby and his daughter, that Miss De Wilde gave me the card for. I had my interview this morning, and they’ve offered me a position. A good one. I’ll be helping develop new devices, with room to advance. I could be a manager someday, they said, if it all pans out.” He sank to a seat with a look of blissful awe on his face. “They even advanced me my first pay. Can you believe it?”

“Of course I can.” Grinning, Drake settled on the couch he’d not had to resort to lying on at all yet today. “I told you, Red. Circumstances change. You’ll be the perfect man for that job, and kudos to them for realizing it.”