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mortgage?”
    â€œThey said no. As we thought they would. We don’t qualify for a second mortgage…”
    â€œWhat about your brother? Ron is rolling in it. I bet if you asked him, he’d help us out.”
    â€œI called him last week. He’s going through a hard time himself right now. No extra cash. Everything’s tied up in some deal. I hated asking him.”
    â€œOh, Joe, what are we going to do?”
    â€œI don’t know, Hon. I just don’t know.”
    They both sounded so sad. I wished I could bounce in there and tell them they didn’t need to worry. That Billy and Tom and me were getting the money. It wouldn’t be long before we would have the whole ten thousand. But I couldn’t say a thing.
    Lisa’s kitten bobbed out of the living room and danced toward me, tiny claws clicking on the hardwood.
    â€œHey, Pumpkin,” I whispered, scooping him up and nuzzling his furry back.
    â€œIs that you, Nell?” Janice came from the kitchen, her usual bright and cheerful self. “You’re back.”
    â€œGot tired of shooting hoops,” I told her. “Going up to my room to read for a while.”
    I carried the kitten up to my room. It was extra tidy, even my side. Janice had supervised bedroom cleanup that morning. She even made me make my bed. She had become a lot fussier about tidiness since Rhoda’s visit. Maybe she thought if everything else was perfect, they’d let her and Joseph keep us all here, in spite of the bathroom problems. Fat chance.
    Lisa was at a friend’s for the afternoon, so I had our bedroom to myself. I shut the door, dropped Pumpkin onto my bed and patted his head. I went to the closet and dug around for the loose board. I pried it up and reached inside for the shoe box. There were three entries on the lid so far.
    Bank 1—$1450.
    Bank 2—$0
    Bank 3—$1120
    There was a total of $2570 so far.
    We still a long way to go.
    I slowly counted the money, smoothing out the bills, stacking them into a neat pile, hoping the total would be higher. It wasn’t. It was too far away from the ten thousand dollars we needed. This robbing banks deal was not working very fast. At the rate we were going it would take a whole year before we had enough.
    We didn’t have a year. We had only a few months.

THIRTEEN
    APRIL 13
    Billy chose the small Scotiabank in Surrey Place Mall, only a block from the SkyTrain station.
    The mall was busy with shoppers. “Should work in our favor,” Billy explained. “It’ll be easier to make our getaway in the crowd.”
    I was standing in the doorway of the Boston Pizza, opposite the bank.
    Tom was waiting over at the ice-cream shop further along the mall. I figured he’d probably be cracking his knuckles as usual. He never said much about being anxious or scared, but I knew he was.
    Billy headed into the bank, ball cap pulled down low over his forehead as usual. Also as usual were glasses, fake mustache, jeans, gray jacket zipped over his chin.
    I moved closer and stood outside the bank. But I couldn’t wait. I followed him inside. I knew that wasn’t the plan, but I couldn’t stand not knowing what was going on. Tom wouldn’t be able to see us. His job was to wait.
    I got into the bank in time to see Billy pass his note to the teller, an older woman with big hair. I edged closer so I could hear.
    â€œTouch the silent alarm and you’re dead meat!” Billy growled at her.
    She froze with fright.
    â€œGimme all your bills and be quick about it!”
    When I saw the terrified teller reaching into her drawer, I left quickly and waited outside, holding my bag ready.
    Billy came rushing out, dumped everything into my bag and took off.
    A man came running out of the bank. He didn’t notice me because of all the people walking by.
    â€œStop thief!” he yelled.
    Billy turned sharply right, into Shoppers Drug Mart. The bank man rushed in