Mace’s attention went back to his plate and he forked into another egg. “Hank’s started a col ection.” I was chewing so I swal owed, chased the eggs with some coffee and asked, “A col ection?”

He didn’t answer my question, instead he said,

“Everyone’s in, including Marcus, Malcolm and Tom. Hank’l go after Tod and Stevie and Shirleen when you and I come out. They got about fifteen large so far.” I was confused and not fol owing. “Fifteen large what?”

“Fifteen large dol ars.”

I stared at him.

“Sorry, Mace,” I explained. “I’m not fol owing.” His eyes went from his plate to me. “For your folks.” Gut kick. It wasn’t unpleasant but for a moment it was paralyzing.

I jerked out of my temporary paralysis and asked, “Hank did a col ection for my Mom and Dad and, in one day, they’ve got fifteen thousand dol ars?”

Mace nodded, eyes back to his plate, he kept talking.

“Luke’s loaded, so is Lee. Darius has got money put away.

Before Vance met Jules, he kept his overheard low, lived tight, didn’t spend much. Even though they’re lookin’ to put money down on a house, Jules has got some huge account that’s supposed to be her Uncle Nick’s but he’s demandin’

she put it down when they find a place. I don’t get that, don’t care, bottom line, Vance was generous. Marcus said that once Daisy found out about it, she’d want to be top the heap so he doubled the highest kick in.”

My mouth had dropped open.

Final y, I said, “Fifteen thousand dol ars?” Mace went back to eating after he said, “Yep.”

“And you?” I asked. “How much did it take to bring them current on their mortgage?”

“Six K. Marcus doesn’t know about that,” Mace replied calmly, forked up the last of his eggs, grabbed his plate and walked it to the sink.

I was not calm.

The freak out had returned with a vengeance.

He was running hot water on his plate when I told his profile, “That’s twenty-one thousand dol ars.”

“Yep,” Mace repeated.

“Twenty-one thousand dol ars in… one… day,” I went on.

Mace turned off the water and shifted to face me. His eyes were alert and he watched me closely.

“Yep,” he said again.

“That’s…” I started then stopped then started again.

“That’s insane.”

“Their debt tops a hundred K or it did. I looked over your parents’ shit last night. Your Mom’s not workin’, your Dad barely makes enough to cover the mortgage and household bil s. They doubled up on the mortgage to take care of the first round of treatments. This round is bringin’ them low.” Another gut kick, this one was unpleasant.

“One hundred thousand dol ars?” I whispered.

“Yeah,” Mace replied softly.

I looked at him.

He returned my stare.

Then I shouted, “Oh my God! That’s… I can’t… oh my God! I can’t wrap my head around that!”

“Stel a –”

I shook my head, dropped my fork in my plate, put the plate on the counter and raised my hands then dropped them.

“Not counting the money from the last three gigs, which, by the way, Monk hasn’t paid yet, though The Little Bear paid Floyd I just don’t have my take, I’ve got seven hundred and fifty dol ars in savings, just over a thousand in checking and maybe a thousand in the savings bonds Mom used to buy me for Christmas,” I told Mace then walked out of the kitchen, whipped around on one foot and walked back to see Mace had turned to watch me. “Oh my God. I can’t help them. I can’t… even fifteen thousand dol ars can’t… and we can’t take that money!”

“Kitten –”

“It’s too much!” I yel ed.

He smiled which, for your information, I thought was total y insane in a world that was completely insane.

“You try talkin’ Hank and Lee out of givin’ your folks that money.”

I considered this.

I didn’t know Hank al that wel , he seemed real y nice, a little less intense and more laidback than the other Hot Bunch boys but not that much less intense and laidback.

Lee, on the other hand, sometimes just plain scared me.

He was bossy and, you could tel , used to getting his way.

Shitsofuckit!

When I was about to come to terms with al this, Mace spoke again. “My father’s gonna pay off the rest and give them a nest egg. Whatever happens with your Mom, it’l happen with her feelin’ comfortable.”

My mouth had dropped open again and I was staring at him like he’d just announced his intention to spend the next six years travel ing to Mars so he could set up a colony of super-Mace-humans.

“What?” I breathed.

“My father is gonna make your family comfortable. He’s gonna give them a mil ion dol ars, that’l pay off their bil s, pay off the house and pay for whatever lies ahead.” I stil hadn’t stopped staring at him.

“You’re crazy,” I breathed.

He shook his head.

I put my hands to my h*ps and leaned toward Mace before I spoke. “First, I don’t want his money. I know he’s your Dad, Mace, but he’s a jerk. Second, he’s mean. He’s not going to give my parents one mil ion dol ars. Third, I don’t want his money!”

I ended this on a shout, my body so tense I could feel the muscles in my neck pulsating.

Mace, however, was calm. “It isn’t his money.”

“What do you mean, it isn’t his money?”

“I mean it’s mine and it’s my Mom’s. It’s also Caitlin’s and Caitlin’s Mom’s. He owes us al and the time for him to pay has come.”

I blinked and asked, “Caitlin?”

“My sister.”

My tense body froze solid.

It was time.

Effing hel , it was time.

I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to go to him but I didn’t think that was right. It also wasn’t right to hold my ground. I was at least three feet away from him. It seemed a mile. He stil seemed calm but he couldn’t be. There was no way.

I made a decision, stayed where I was and forced my body to relax.

Then I asked softly, “Her name was Caitlin?” Mace stayed where he was too and replied, “Yeah.” I took in a breath then let it go, tried to find something innocuous to start with, settled on an idea and continued,