Free Lorraine Bartlett - Tori Cannon-Kathy Grant 00.5 - Panty Raid by Lorraine Bartlett Page B

to be losing some of my clothes on a regular basis.”
    “I didn’t take them, if that’s what you want to know,” the woman said flatly.
    “Oh, I wasn’t accusing you.”
    Marie glared at her, then turned back to the dryer.
    “Did you see anyone in the laundry room when you came down before?”
    “No.”
    “Has anyone messed with your laundry lately?”
    “No!” Marie said with annoyance.
    Tori picked up her laundry basket and forced a smile. “It’s always nice talking to you, Marie.”
    Marie didn’t react to her sarcasm, and began folding her towels.
    Tori left the laundry room and trooped back up the stairs for her apartment. At the rate she was losing underwear, she was either going to have to go commando or start buying them by the gross.
    #
    The sun had begun its swing to the west when Kathy Blake pulled into the apartment complex’s parking lot and cut the engine. She stared at the cookie-cutter buildings. She’d lived in an apartment like this just a year earlier and she’d hated it. Her last move landed her in half a house out on Route 5. What she wanted was to buy an old house—a big old house that she could turn into a bed and breakfast. She couldn’t even hope to buy a stately home—in any state of disrepair—and turn it into a lovely inn until her inheritance came through in another eighteen months. Until then it was a pipe dream, she reminded herself. But what was life if you couldn’t dream? One day she was sure she would be an innkeeper. She just had to find the right property at the right price, fix it up, and fill it with lovely antiques. For that, her anticipated inheritance was going to be far too small.
    Time marched on, and way too quickly.
    Kathy grabbed her purse, duffle, and a plastic grocery bag from the passenger seat and got out of the car. As she walked up to the building’s entrance she noticed quite an abundance of catnip growing around the well-trimmed boxwood. Had Tori planted it for her kitty, Daisy? She nipped off a piece to offer the cat upon her arrival and stepped up to the door.
    She’d only been to Tori’s apartment one other time, and was still surprised there wasn’t more security. The door opened to a shared lobby and anybody could enter the building, which housed four apartments. She pressed the buzzer under the metal mail slot for Apartment 4 and seconds later the door to the upper apartment on the left opened. “Hey, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” Tori said, grinning broadly.
    “So are you,” Kathy said and laughed before heading up the stairs. Tori stepped inside and Kathy followed. They paused to give each other a hug before Kathy pulled back and brandished the plastic bag hanging from her wrist. “I baked.”
    “You always bake. What is it this time?”
    “ Your favorite—chocolate chip-oatmeal cookies.”
    “ Aw, you shouldn’t have—but I’m glad you did.”
    “It’s how I relax. And I brought an offering for Daisy, too.”
    Tori smiled. “You got that outside my door, didn’t you? You can’t believe how much catnip grows around here —it’s unnatural. I snitch a few leaves every time I come in. The maintenance man keeps yanking it out, but it’s the gift to cats that keeps on growing.”
    “I’ve got a patch for my guys behind my back door, too.”
    “Daisy! Daisy!” Tori called and a plump tabby came running into the living room.
    “Look at you,” Kathy said, bending low and crushing the leaves between her fingers. The cat stood on her hind legs, her purr going into overdrive. She took the leaves from Kathy’s fingers, leaving them wet with slobber.
    “Oh, my. I’m going to need to wash my hands.”
    “You can do it at the kitchen sink. Meanwhile, I just made a fresh pot of coffee. We can drink it and stuff ourselves with your cookies. Follow me.”
    Kathy dumped her duffle and purse and followed Tori through the small living room and into the kitchen. It, too, was compact with only a round Formica table and four