Daniel said, handing Piper’s head shot back to me. “And this is all you have to go on?” “Sam seemed to think you’d have some ideas that might help.” I risked a glance at Sam. I hadn’t been able to overhear his conversation with Daniel, but whatever they’d talked about had made Sam uncomfortable. A wall had come up around him that hadn’t been there before. “And if you don’t make it back with the goods, then Paul’s head will roll?” Daniel ran his palm over the top of his shaved head. “That’s brutal, man.” “My first thought was to see if you were finished with your sonata yet,” Sam said. He sat on the other side of Daniel but kept his eyes fixed on his boots. “My baby? Naw, I’m not done yet. Why—what did you want with it?” A cautious tone had entered Daniel’s voice. Sam tapped his fingers on his knee in a roundabout rhythm. “When Piper said she wanted something ethereal and original, I thought of your music first.” “You did?” Daniel’s face lit up at Sam’s compliment.
