Mina dutifully filled Mr. Vito in on the plight of Raven and Business Park itself. He listened intently without chewing loudly on his meatstick.

"So you're tellin' me there's this evil dame whose got control of the mayor of Business Park and you gals are gonna free him?!"

Mina spun her finger around her ear. "I hope you don't think we're too cray cray! He's my mentor too. The reason I am a defense attorney in the first place."

Trudy nodded. "And without Raven, Mina wouldn't have saved us from the gaping jaws of justice. I'd be incarcerated for being framed for beheading a head chef!"

Winona gave a knowing expression. "And my ex would have been murdered by a bunch of video game plumbers!"

"Your ex?" Mina gasped. Chet Cody was Winona's boyfriend who was addicted to video games. He had been so addicted it almost lead to his murder at the hands of The Used Gaming Mafia.

But now he was gone from her life.

Winona gave them a sad smile. "Seems he couldn't choose between video games and me so it was game over for me."

Mina started apologizing profusely. She was so wrapped up in her own troubles, she didn't care to check in on her friends. But Winona just patted her back. "What's dust is dust. Only true friends and decay is eternal."

Winona gave a smirk in her black lip stick. "So what do you say, Mr. Hairy Taxi driver? Care to help me and my true friends?"

Mr. Vito thought for a second, nibbled his stick of processed meat and gave them a greasy smile. "I don't think I can resist the determination of three gally pals!"-he pointed at Mina-"Especially you kid! You made many underpaid early morning hours bearable! Especially afta my four divorces!"

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

Mina bobbed her head excitedly. "You bet! And if you ever need a divorce lawyer for number five, I'm your girl!"

Everyone laughed until D. Vito started muttering, "I hope you know about prenups, kid!"

***

The taxi cab pulled up to the gates of Ebony manor and Mina realized her biggest mistake. Cobalt colored steel twisted into the shape of a D, preventing anyone from entering (or escaping.)

The whole house was encircled by an elegantly carved wall with posh molding at the top. Mina slapped her hand in her own face.

"Drat rats!" she muttered. "I totally didn't think about how we'd get in!"

"Welp!" Trudy exclaimed in her bubbling voice. "Perhaps we can just go out for snails at Les Schargo's instead. They've given me a lifetime "don't sue us" discount ever since the incident with Bunting!"

But D. Vito chuckled. "Gally Pallys. All ya really need is a step up. And my taxi cab is just the thing!"

Mina grinned like a maniac causing Trudy to whimper. Even without a key, they had a way over the wall.

***

Soon, they found themselves on the side of the house, having bounced off the taxi cab and leaped over the wall. Mina and Winona landed on their feet, but the large Trudy had leaped and landed bottom first in a strange garden. Large Venus flytraps were clustered everywhere, as was some oily looking ivy. When it came in contact with Mina's exposed calves she screamed. "Poison ivy!!!!"

Trudy whimpered loudly like a little girl when she realized she was sitting on an enormous clove.

They quickly bounded into the backyard, Mina leaping more from pain than any natural agility. She looked down at her ankles. "Ugh. Gonna need some lotion later. I'm just lucky I already have ashy legs!"

"You think that's bad…" Trudy mumbled. "I'm gonna need a lifetime supply of Bum-Meds!"

Winona shook her head. "I'm just lucky that plants shrivel and die when they come in contact with my lifeless skin."

The backyard was filled with an elegant patio that curved around the house and was covered in elegant brollies with chairs and tables, a fancy barbecue and a fountain of Ivory Ebony naked…except for a conveniently placed pear.

There was no damning evidence here other than the fact Raven was living an opulent lifestyle.

"How are we going to find our way in?" Trudy moaned.

Mina strolled over to a rain grate built into the patio. "This grate way!"

She lifted the panel up like a manhole and placed it on the stone patio. As she did, a disgusting smell from the depths wafted up into her nostrils. She winced.

"Yowie!" she exclaimed. "What I wouldn't do to be a glam burglar like Maria Santiago!"

Together, they climbed down into the drainage grate, not knowing of the horrors and truths that awaited them below.