Then There Were Three

Product Description Mom would kill me if she knew where I was right now, Violet Bell whispered, though no one was around to hear her. The words bubbled out of her mouth anyway as she ran across the street to change her hiding place for the zillionth time. The alley was the best place to hide, but then she couldnt see the front of the building without being noticeable. She didnt want to be noticed.Dashing into the alcove of a parking garage, she pressed against the wall and waited, straining to hear any sound from inside. The garage echoed like a cavern, so shed hear an approaching car with lots of time to get out of the way before the door opened.Violet knew the drill by now.Daring a glance, she shifted her gaze from the locked doorway of the brick condo building across the streetshed already tried to get into the garage entrance.Nada. Not a soul in sight.She swallowed a laugh. Hysteria, probably, because she felt really bad. She wouldnt lie. Mom and GigiMarie would be having total cows right now, not knowing for sure where Violet was. Mom was insane about that kind of stuff on a normal day. And GigiMarie, who called herself Violets honorary grandmother, wasnt much better. They were on a whole different continent today, which was hardly normal.Or maybe Violet was distracting herself from how badly she needed to pee. Shed been stalking this building ever since the taxi had dropped her off around two oclock this afternoon. It was after ten now.The only thing saving her was that she hadnt had anything to drink in forever. On purpose. Earlier thered been places open with bathrooms. Shed found a bunch of art galleries and a kids museum in one direction. But she couldnt get in without paying admission and she hated wasting Moms money on something so stupid. Not on top of everything else shed been spending.The tire place a few blocks in the other direction had been perfect. She pretended to belong in the customers waiting area. Someones kid killing time in front of the TV while the car was serviced. That had worked until the tire place closed.Violet hadnt taken one sip of water since. Of course, shed barely been able to choke down the crumbled granola bars that had made up one very crappy dinner, but shed been starving so, oh, well.And now that hed come home she wasnt moving from this spot. Hed been driving an unmarked police cruiser. Shed only caught a glimpse of him through the windshieldthe only window that wasnt too darkly tinted to see throughbefore hed turned, but she would have recognized him anywhere.Her dad.Shed searched him on the internet before leaving Chile and had found a few photos. The best had been on the New Orleans Police Department website, but thered been others. The newspaper had published one with the mayor whod appointed her dad as chief of police. Another had been an announcement that a brother who looked like her dad had accepted some fellowship at Charity Hospital.Violet had an uncle, too. And he was a doctor.Just the thought gave her a thrill. Who needed a drink or a bathroom? Shed hold it all night if she had to because now that her dad had come home, she wasnt leaving until he did. She didnt want to miss him.Not that he was likely to be going anywhere at this time of night, but he was the chief of police. Cops got dragged out on calls all the time if she could believe SVU and NCIS.Resting her head against the wall, Violet swallowed another laugh. She couldnt believe she was really here.Of course that thought lasted about one second before she thought about Mom again. Ugh.It wasnt that she wanted Mom to get gray hair. But what was Violet supposed to do? Let Mom keep her from her dad? That wasnt fair. And Mom was usually pretty good about things like that. She always let Violet and GigiMarie decide what projects to accept with that nutty job of hers. Not that Violet didnt like traveling. She did. So did GigiMarie. But Moms projects always lasted at least a