“They don’t. They just think they’re starting to get infected with what we’ve got. Especially after the assassination of that French opposition leader. Franz Ferdinand all the way. But bigger. Even the Indians are mobilizing. So our minders are leaving us in our quarantine and locking the doors behind them. And probably half hoping we’ll finish what we started.”

Donny knew what she meant. Carol always knew what side she was on. She’d been on the right side before anyone even knew it was a side.

“Are you helping?” he asked.

“I gave them all my money, and the best advice I could.”

“How did you never get arrested, Grandma? Or at least sanctioned?”

“Some of us know how to be more subtle than you. You get too emotional for a lawyer.”

Donny shrugged. “Only when they really get under my skin.”

“If you say so, sweetie.”

Donny eyed the chunk of brownie she had left uneaten. There was a grackle in the nearby tree who looked like he had the same idea.

“There’s something else, Grandma.”

She looked at him. She could tell, even before he said another word.

“Uh-huh.”

He told her. About Thelen. About the money he owed. About the lien on her house.

“Goddamn you, Donny,” she said. “How could you?”

“I didn’t have a choice, Grandma.”

She sneered at him. “Give me a fucking break. You’d fuck up a two-car funeral, like your great-grandpa used to say.”

“I made enough money to buy you this place, didn’t I? And I did it doing the kind of work you said was work worth doing, for people who need the help. I just didn’t do it legal aid–style like you. I did it in a way where you actually get paid. And you watch me, I’m going to do it again, and make enough money to buy you that whole damn mall so you can pet the bats and feed the butterflies till your dying days.”

“Is that right?” she said. “And how are you going to pull that off?”

“Well, if I can just get myself a plaintiff, I’m pretty sure I can settle this AMR case. I got some great stuff on the record before they pulled the trapdoor on me. If I can come up with some other victims willing to sign on, maybe the judge will make a way to keep it going. But in the meantime, I need to focus on a sure thing. And I think I have a Plan C that will cover our immediate needs.”

“Will you send me the file?”

Donny considered it. “Are you sure?”

“You always were bad at accepting help from people who love you. Like that professor you went out with.”

Thanks for bringing that up, Grandma. He hadn’t told her that was what he had borrowed the money for.