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like that.  And Berkeley Realty was possibly his best customer.
    “Why?”  Suspicion was back, all eighty pounds of it.  “What’s in it for you?  You one of those do-gooders or something?”
    Lizard nearly swallowed her tongue.  She reached out and snagged Raven’s phone.  “Insult me again, and I drop this down a street grate.”  It probably didn’t belong to the girl anyhow, but they were both going to ignore that. 
    The insult seemed to steady her prickly companion some.
    “I’m hungry and I haven’t figured out what to do with you yet.  So I’m eating, and I figure you’re not dumb enough to turn down free food.”
    Raven’s scowl deepened.  “Give me back my phone first.”
    “Not a chance.”  And it was time to end the bullshit before they were both drowning in it.  Lizard took off her lightweight cardi, stuffed it in her bag, and headed toward the door.  She waited until she was darn sure the girl had caught a good look at her tattoos.  “I wasn’t born yesterday.”
    Some of the mental scowl had been replaced by curiosity.  “Nice tats.  Where’d you get them?”  Raven walked out the front door and down the porch steps, keeping her distance.
    Lizard locked up, well aware it made nerves jangle behind her.  “I’ll answer that right after you start dealing with me straight.  How come you’re hanging out in empty houses?”
    No answer.  Just a stray kick at an innocent dandelion that had dared to reach up through a crack in the sidewalk.
    The part of Lizard Monroe that had a deep soft spot for yellow weeds and scared teenagers took a hard hit.  “Better than the alternatives, huh?”  Not so long ago, she’d have thought Raven’s gig was brilliant.  Space, clean showers, a working stove, and nobody to bug you except for the occasional tour.  “How you’d you get your hands on a lockbox app?” 
    Disdain—and under it, shame.
    The second bothered Lizard way more than she wanted to admit.  The stench of familiar.  “You hack it?”
    Raven looked surprised—clearly that possibility had never crossed her mind.  “What, you think I’m some kind of geek?  Not a chance.”
    Too bad.  Witch Central assimilated geeks particularly well.  And if the girl wasn’t a hacker, that didn’t leave a lot of other possibilities.  “Borrowed the phone, huh?”  Hopefully from an idiot agent.  Lizard had a couple she would have gladly nominated.
    Raven snorted.  “I don’t borrow shit—I steal it.  Easier that way.”
    Lizard sighed, well aware she was enjoying this way too much.  Echoes of a certain conversation with a very tired parole officer.
    Her own phone vibrated to life in her pocket.  Shit.  She glanced at the screen.  Melissa Cohen.  I need to speak with you urgently.  Crap.  Not freaking now.  Lizard looked up long enough to tell Raven not to move.
    And discovered empty sidewalk.

Chapter 7

    She shouldn’t be the one asking for favors.
    Lizard slunk down the alleyway to Trinity’s basement hole-in-the-wall, frustrated and embarrassed and seriously pissed off that she was making this particular walk at all.  But she needed help, and this was one job Witch Central didn’t know how to do.
    They didn’t know the streets.
    It took a minute for a head to stick out the metal door.  Dark eyes looked her up and down.  “It isn’t Saturday.  And you don’t have noodles.”
    No, she bleeping well didn’t.  “I lost someone.  And I need help finding her.”
    Trinity snorted.  “Check the mall.  Or the library.  Or wherever it is cute little things like you hang out.”
    “Call me cute again and I’ll spike your noodles with junk to give you pimples the size of dump trucks.”
    “You in a bad mood tonight, mini?”  Something approaching concern now.
    Lizard bit back the smart-ass reply.  “I found a girl hanging out in empty houses for sale.  Busted her, and then she split, and I need to find her before she gets into real crap.