Though he was no longer in a cast, he hadn’t changed rooms, staying on the ground floor. I knocked on the door and found him lying in bed. Jorel didn’t sleep early. Since we’d been sharing the Clifford mansion, I’d never seen him go to bed before midnight or wake up before noon. He was a man without commitments, which is why he didn’t handle schedules or responsibilities well. And I’d already given up trying to change that.

I flipped the light switch, since the downstairs ...