like that now, Kit thought. She was looking for a piece of paper with all the answers and she couldn’t save herself until she found it.
As soon as the taxi pulled onto her street, Kit was flooded with fresh dread. She hated the idea of seeing the chaos again, but postponing the moment wouldn’t do any good at all.
Stepping off the elevator, they found an exhausted-looking Andre in the hallway, dressed in the same clothes he’d been in the night before and limply dabbing a paint brush at the now patched-up doorframe. The temporary door was fully installed, with the promised pins into the floor and upper doorframe. Andre turned over the key and Kit made sure that there was no difficulty opening the door with it. Then she and Baby entered the apartment.
Baby threw her hands up in disgust as she surveyed the scene.
“Let’s go check your desk,” Kit said quickly.
They stepped over and around the items still on the floor and Kit unlocked the door to the office. Her breath caught in her chest as she fumbled on the wall for the overhead light switch. She wondered if she’d ever again walk into her darkened apartment or office without a rush of fear.
Baby went straight to her desk, glanced over the top and then opened the drawers one by one.
She shook her head slowly back and forth. “I don’t have your gift for neatness, but nothing appears to be missing.”
“Flash drives?”
“I didn’t have any in here.”
They returned to Kit’s apartment and began to tackle the upheaval, Baby focusing on the living room while Kit restored the bedroom and bathroom to order. As she worked, she realized that an older camera of hers was also missing. But that didn’t change her mind about the motive of the intruder.
By the time Dara arrived at noon, dressed in jeans and carrying a pizza, Baby and Kit had the apartment back to normal.
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t be here earlier,” Dara said, dropping the box on the kitchen island. “I thought I’d at least pick up food.”
“Thanks, I’m famished,” Kit said. “But why don’t you take a look at your desk before we eat?”
Dara checked her top drawer first. She had the impression, she said, that someone had rustled through there, but nothing was missing. She took a set of keys from her purse, and opened the bottom drawer, where she kept petty cash and anything valuable. She had locked it, per usual, at the end of the workday. She glanced through and announced that everything appeared just as she left it.
“I thought New York was supposed to be so much safer these days,” Dara said worriedly as the three returned to Kit’s apartment.
“Yes, but stuff still happens,” Kit said. Baby shot her a questioning look, obviously wondering how much should be revealed to Dara. But Kit didn’t want to alarm her assistant any more than necessary. “Are you nervous about working in the office, Dara?”
“No,” she said, though not convincingly. “But I’m freaked about you being here at night.”
“The super told me on the phone this morning that he’s ordering a security camera downstairs above the entrance, and he’s going to have his son come by periodically during the day just to keep an eye on the building. That should help. And as a precaution, let’s agree that for the time being, no one will stay alone in the office. We’ll arrange our schedules so that two people are always here together.”
Both Dara and Baby nodded, looking relieved at the suggestion.
Dara departed just a few minutes later, saying that she would swing by the police precinct to be fingerprinted before returning home to change for the wedding. As the door clicked shut behind her, Baby turned to Kit.
“Why don’t you grab some extra clothes and come back uptown with me now,” Baby said, her face etched with worry. “Despite the super’s precautions, I think you should bunk down with me for a while.”
“Thanks so much, Baby, but I’m going to bite the bullet and stay here. Every day I delay sleeping in my apartment will make it tougher to finally do it.”
Besides, Kit despised the idea of being uprooted from her home.
“But what if this man isn’t done searching?”
“That’s why I need to get some answers. If I can figure out what’s going on, maybe I can better protect myself.”
“Kit, please,” Baby said. “I was hoping you’d woken up this morning and scared yourself silly with that idea of snooping around.”