“Hell yeah. But seeing you in your panties is different than breaking in your home andstealingyour panties.”
“Oh gosh. You’re right about that. Gross.” She shook her head. “No. It was just an outfit I’d worn. No underwear or anything.”
She looked as if she wanted to add more, but no further information came. Kendrick let it go.
But once again, he had the suspicion that she wasn’t telling him everything.
“All right,” he said. “I think you should stay with me. Just to be sure whoever did this doesn’t come back when you’re here by yourself.” He went on to explain what he’d been thinking, about criminals who strike at night are different than ones who rummage through a house during the day. He finished by saying, “You’ll be safe with me. Always.”
Samantha wore a sly grin as she asked, “And this has nothing to do with you wanting to see me in my underwear?”
Kendrick laughed. “A little. Yeah. But it’s mostly about keeping you safe.”
“I’m fine with both,” she said. “Right now, though, I need to get dressed for work. I’m already running behind because we had to talk to the cops. I’m going to be pushing it to get to the diner on time.”
“Surely they’ll understand,” he told her. “I mean, you can’t help you were robbed.”
Samantha didn’t seem so convinced, and Kendrick wondered if her boss was a real a-hole or something. Come to think of it, he hadn’t noticed anyone he thought was the manager the two times he’d been to the restaurant. He doubted it was that older waitress he’d talked to.
Samantha stepped closer to the closet—it was too small to step inside—but quickly turned around, red-hot anger flushing her cheeks. “Hey! They stole my uniform!”
“What?”
“I didn’t notice until now! But it usually hangs right here.” She pointed to where the clothes in her closet were parted. “The hanger is there, but the uniform is gone.”
Kendrick looked around, but he didn’t expect to find it. Everything was visible in that tiny apartment. “Could it be in the washing machine or the dryer?”
She shook her head. It took her a moment to answer, as if she was grasping to comprehend all that was happening. He’d been around plenty of break-in victims before. It was a jarring experience when one’s personal sanctuary was invaded.
“I don’t have machines of my own. But I swear I brought it home from the laundry mat and hung it right here. I always do.”
She looked as if she wanted to sink to the floor in despair.
Taking hold of her arms, Kendrick said, “Hey, hey. It’s okay. We’re going to get through this. You’re not alone.”
He held her close for a moment, feeling some of the tension draining her body as she sagged under the support of his arms.
A kiss on the top of her head seemed to further help.
After a groan, Samantha said, “We probably better go now. The owner, Mr. Tress, is going to be there today. He’s a hardass. It’s not going to go over well that I lost my uniform.”
“Again, honey, this isn’t your fault. You can’t help what happened to you.”
“Tell that to Mr. Tress! He’s not the type to cut any slack.”
Kendrick held Samantha’s hand as they left, smiling to himself.
It wouldn’t bother him to tell off this Mr. Tress. Not one damn bit…
Chapter Twenty-Five
Unfortunately, Mr. Tress was in rare form today, crankier than Samantha had ever seen him.
“You’re firing me?” she asked, standing in the diner’s tiny office in the rear of the kitchen. “Sir, I’m sorry I lost my uniform. Someone broke in and?—”
“So you say,” the small, skinny man interrupted. He pushed his wire-rimmed glasses up on his nose and continued. “It’s more likely that you were irresponsible and just misplaced it. Besides, you were late two weeks ago.”
“By ten minutes,” she protested. “And as I explained, my connecting bus was late.”
