Page 17 of Saving Bonnie

Kassy jerks around, staring at me. “Bonnie?” Her eyes widen. “You think she’s dirty?”

“I’m not sure,” I admit. Usually I can break people down with a quick inspection, but Bunny doesn’t fit. “Something isn’t right.”

“In what way?” Her cat jumps into her lap, and Kassy runs her fingers into the fur below its left ear.

An extra set of eyes might help pull the right pieces together. “What would you do if you got taken for every dime?”

“Me?” She pauses, only to have the cat meow in protest. “I don’t know, Tino, I’m not a muggle.”

“A what?”

Another exasperated sigh. “In this case, a typical person.” The cat jumps off, the disgruntled meow showing her annoyance at distracting Kassy. “Jeez, what kind of childhood did you have?”

The kind where the cartel takes a kid as collateral until his father’s debt is paid. They stuff him in a barrel then take turns shoving a knife in the top to make air slits. Bonus points if they draw blood. But that’s not a conversation I’m going to have with Kassy. Few can handle that kind of reality.

“For me, it would probably be someone hacking my system.” Her gaze covers the monitors in front of her. “I’d find their ass,” she says with conviction. “And make their digital life a living hell.” She brings her fingertips together, steepling them in what may be an attempt at acting like a movie villain. “Secrets revealed, nude pics go public, accounts get emptied, credit cards get maxed out.”

“Okay, I get the picture.” For today’s generation, that likely wouldn’t do much. For the older generation, it would make them feel like they’re ruined.

“And the memes. Lord, I can have fun with those.” Now she’s the one distracted, like she’s remembering something she’s done.

“I’ll have to hear that story at some point.”

She blinks, returning to the present. “But I guess she’d call the cops.”

So would I. “She’s been left practically destitute and didn’t file a report.”

“Hmmm.” Kassy frowns. “Well that doesn’t sound right.”

“Exactly. And the prick of doubt is bothering me.” It’s bothering me a lot. “Bonnie had two different people steal from her over the past week.”

“Two.” Kassy’s eyebrows disappear under the edge of the beanie.

“Yeah. And she didn’t do a damn thing, either time.”

“Oh, something’s not right.”

“Which leads me to believe she has something to hide. I just don’t know what it is.” Which bothers me more than everything else combined. I was sure I’d find something when I searched her place, but I came up empty.

“I’m sorry. It’s my fault.”

“What?”

“I saw regular payments to the same credit card company, so I didn’t think much of the bigger payment. I didn’t realize the money wasn’t going to pay her personal card.” She frowns. “I should have gone through everything more carefully.”

“We couldn’t have known.” While it hasn’t been her finest hour, it could be easy to miss a detail like that. “Hell, even Bunny didn’t realize it happened.”

She studies me thoughtfully. “I’ll get working on a more thorough search through her life and reach out once you’re back to work.”

“I’m going to head over there in case Olga shows up.”

Kassy cocks her head again, but I end the call before she can say anything.

CHAPTER SIX

Bunny

The bell over the door rings—again. I exhale in a rush, closing my eyes to pray for a few extra minutes in the day. I’m in the middle of plating, so I can’t drop what I’m doing and walk away. If I take too long, the food will get cold, and we’ll have upset customers.

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