Page 20 of Carver’s Crusade

Athena shakes her head. “What? No, of course I know you don’t have sex with the Kutte Bunnies. I wouldn’t be here if I thought you did. I just didn’t know you had a new Bunny.”

“Yeah, she showed up last week. Dante wasn’t sure about bringing her on board, but I guess she talked him into it. She doesn’t want to have sex with anyone, but she offered to cook.”

“You know, I would like to meet her,” Athena says, pushing back from the table.

“I can go get her,” Jenna offers, but Athena just shakes her head as she pats Jenna on the arm.

“No, that’s okay. She’s probably busy. I’ll be right back.”

Watching Athena leave, I turn to Ranch, who is staring at the back of his girlfriend. Rather than question him about Athena’s behavior, I turn to Shield.

“Anything more about the attack on Raven?”

He shakes his head. “No. Maestro followed the car via traffic cams into a residential area and lost it. The only thing interesting about the location is that it is the same subdivision where the man who gave him his alibi lives.”

“You think they’re lying?” I ask.

He shrugs. “Maybe. I don’t like the guy. Raven claims she doesn’t remember who attacked her, but ...”

“But what?”

“I get the feeling she’s not being honest. I think she remembers more than she’s saying and that she has no intention of telling me what she knows.”

“Why would she do that?”

He shrugs.

Maestro slides into the seat next to Shield, his eyes fixed on me.

“Did you learn something more about the attack on Raven?” I ask him.

He shakes his head. “No, but I do have information for you.”

“Did you find out who’s been stealing from me?” I ask him.

Shield frowns. “You got robbed again?”

I nod. “The mini mall got hit the previous night. Whoever it was didn’t get much, just some hand tools. But it’s pissing me off. Tell me you got a look at them.”

“They knew what they were doing.” He props his forearms on the table, lowering his voice slightly. “There were two of them. They kept their hoodies up and their heads down. They avoided the cameras.”

“Faces?” Shield asks.

Maestro shakes his head. “Not a damn one.”

I curse under my breath, dragging a hand over my mouth. “So we’ve got nothing.”

“Not nothing,” Maestro says, then gestures like he’s replaying it in his head. “I think we might be dealing with kids.”

“Kids?”

“One was taller; it might be a guy, but I think the other was either a kid or a woman,” he says. “Both were thin, like really thin.”

Shield frowns. “Teenagers?”

Maestro shrugs. “Maybe.”

I sit back, tension coiling tight in my chest. “You couldn’t tell if they were boys or girls?”