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“Is he okay?” Jaeger asked, his heart lurching His thoughts immediately went to a tiny white coffin with pink painted roses

“He has an ear infection and it’s nothing serious,” Piper replied “Ceri says he’ll be fine in a day or so”

“I find it incredible that your source for all things baby is a twenty-year-old with a nose ring,” Jaeger said, se of his bed

“My parents are dead and I’le mom My friends, the ones who didn’t ease away after I becanant, have even less experience with babies than I do I don’t have tiroups, so Ceri, Rainn, the internet and a massive book on the subject are what I use”

She shouldn’t be dealing with this alone, Jaeger thought

“Anyway, you called me How can I help you?”

Jaeger did so if you have any documentation on the sapphires?”

“Provenance I should have thought of that Well, there are boxes of stuff o up there and get the on the sapphires, then it’ll be in there Actually, Ion his schedule, I’ll let you knohen I’ve been through them”

“Don’t bother the kid I’ll help you”

Piper’s silence indicated her surprise “It’s pretty chaotic and dirty up there”

“And the jungles and villages I wander into are perfectly pristine? I’er said, gripping the bridge of his nose, irritated Yeah, he lived in a fancy apartner threads, but God, he wasn’t a wuss

Not that he really wanted to dig in a dirty attic, but he did want to see her again As soon as possible

He’d obviously picked up a brain-eating bug on his last trip abroad It was the only explanation for the absurd way he was acting

“Oh, okay Thanks,” Piper said, and Jaeger heard Ty’s wail in the background “Sorry, I really have to go”