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,

“Did she look like you?”

Mace watched me a beat then shook his head once and answered, “No. She was blonde. Blue eyes. Tiny.” I kept my silence and my distance, only my eyes were on him. But my brain was emanating comfort vibes as hard as it could and I hoped like crazy he was receiving them.

He put a hand to the counter and leaned into it.

Then he repeated on a tortured murmur, “Tiny.” I knew in an instant the conversation had changed.

Something about the way he said that word made my heart squeeze.

I waited, eyes on him. He kept his eyes on me.

When he didn’t say anything, I whispered, “Tiny?” When I said the word, his eyes closed, when they opened the demons were there, I saw them, clear as day.

Effing bloody hel .

I held my breath but kept my distance and I hoped to al that was holy I was doing the right thing.

He spoke again. “She was a dancer. Bal et. Good at it.

So petite, Christ, so f**kin’ smal . But graceful. Just the way she moved was like a dance.” He stopped and started again, “She was pure elegance. Al she had to move was her hands. She had exquisite hands.” He stopped again then went on, his voice quiet, “Jesus, I’l never forget the way she moved her hands.”

He stopped again and I thought there was something important about this but somehow I knew it wasn’t the time to push it.

“You were proud of her.” My voice was soft.

He didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. I knew the answer was an affirmative.