By 5:00 a.m. local time—which was 10:00 a.m. London time—I was wide awake. I got out of bed and went to find my laptop. It was time to get to work. I turned it on and grabbed the folder Cazzie had given me. Carefully I perused the brief biographies she’d compiled for everyone on the list she’d given me yesterday and then transferred her notes to my laptop. Then I started to look for more information on the group. But with the enormous amount of career news, photos, magazine stories, and blog posts online, I could have spent a day researching just one of the group, let alone all of them. Hmm, I thought, maybe when Sebastian—Argh! I cut myself off right there. Stop, Axelle. He’s helping Mom, remember? Before any of Ellie’s admonitions from last night started ringing through my mind, I told myself that I would just start with basic background research and do more when I found the time. I quickly jotted down the few things that caught my eye, then moved on to the Black Amelia.
