“No, Dad. I can’t take that.”
“I don’t want you losing everything to help your sister. It isn’t right.”
“We’ll manage. We always do.” I stood and slipped the ring into my coat pocket. “I know you will anyway but try not to worry. I’ll get it sorted.”
“Then, take this.” He reached in his pocket again, this time pulling out his Jackie Robinson card. “It’s not quite as valuable, but it should help.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“No. I think you should take the Mantle card, but you’re the one running this show.”
“I’m not running it. I’m just trying to survive it, and the Robinson card will be a huge help.” I stood there a moment longer, then whispered, “I gotta get going.”
“Are you sure there isn’t something more we can do?” Dad pushed.
“It’s fine, Dad. You’ve done plenty.”
I reached up and gave him a quick hug, then turned to Mom, hugging her, too. A tear trickled from her eye as she said, “I hate that it has to be this way.”
“It’s fine, Mom. Nana would understand.”
“She would be so proud of you. I know I am.”
I nodded because there was no way I could speak. Before Mom could break my heart even more, I grabbed my things and slipped out the door.
The drive home felt longer than usual. Every mile gave me time to think and to second-guess whether or not it was a good idea to sell all my worldly possessions. My heart screamed no, but it wasn’t enough to convince my mind. I knew I had to do it.
It was the only way I could save my sister.
It’s what I should’ve done from the beginning.
Maybe then, I wouldn’t be so worried about Davis and his plans for screwing over Luke. I wanted to warn him, but there was no way I could do that—not after the threatening text message I’d gotten from Davis.
If I said anything to anyone, he would give my address and Lila Kate’s to every foul man he’d ever met, and after they’d had their fun with us, they’d put bullets in our heads.
I wasn’t sure I believed him, but I wasn’t taking any chances.
So, I kept my mouth shut and tried to come up with the money on my own. As soon as I pulled into the driveway, I spotted Lila Kate sitting alone on the front steps. Her legs crossed at her ankles, and her sunglasses were pushed up in her hair like she’d been waiting there for a while.
I parked, and I’d barely had time to get out, when she was in my face, shoving a wad of cash into my hand. “Here.”
“What’s this?”
“Eighteen grand.”
“What? How did you manage this?”
“I sold my car, and those diamond earrings Sawyer gave me for Christmas last year.”
“Why would you do that?” I gasped. “You need your car for school, and…”
“And you needed yours for work. That didn’t stop you from selling it.” Tears filled her eyes as she said, “You’ve done so much. Way more than you should have, and I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.”
“You have done something. You’ve come up with almost twenty thousand dollars. That’s not nothing.”
“I know, but I need to do more.”
“I hate this.”
