Full House by Janet Evanovich Read Free Book Online Page A

said. "I had a bad dream last night, that's all." Even as she said it she wondered how it was possible when she had distinctly smelled a woman's perfume. Had that been part of her dream as well?
    "I'm sorry for accusing you," she said, leaving the room. She went downstairs and poured a cup of coffee. She paced the kitchen. Her eyes caught the key rack beside the door and she froze. The spare keys that she always kept on hand were gone. A chill raced down her back.
    She told herself to calm down. There had to be a reasonable explanation. Had one of the kids lost their keys and taken the extra ones? Or could Deedee or Frankie have taken it?
    She hurried upstairs to Christie's room. The girl opened her eyes. "What?"
    "Do you have your house keys?"
    "Of course I do. Why?"
    "Someone took the spare set off the key rack."
    "Don't look at me. Ask Joel."
    Billie found the boy sleeping soundly. She hated to wake him, but she had to know what was going on. "Joel?"
    "Yeah?"
    She went through the same spiel she had with Christie.
    "My keys are in my book bag," he said. "They're in the side pocket."
    Billie found the keys. "Go back to sleep, honey."
    She thought about waking Deedee again to see if she'd taken the spare set and decided it could wait. She didn't want to wake her again. With the hours she kept, the poor woman needed her sleep.
    Billie bumped into Christie on her way downstairs. The girl was headed for the bathroom.
    "I'm going out for a walk," Billie said, hoping the fresh air would clear her head. Her foot was too sore for her usual morning jog, but she could walk and think and maybe lower her stress level over the missing keys. "I'll be back in half an hour."
    Christie looked skeptical. "Why would you walk when we have a perfectly good minivan?"
    "For the exercise. Usually, I jog."
    "At your age? Did you check it out with a doctor first?"
    Billie rolled her eyes. "For goodness' sake, I'm only thirty-eight."
    "You're no spring chicken, Mom, and you're the perfect candidate for shin splints."
    Some people were really good at taking the wind out of one's sails, Billie thought. "Yes, but the exercise helps my rheumatism and arthritis so I just have to take my chances. Thanks for your concern."
    Billie returned to her room. She no longer smelled the scent. She must've dreamed it. She slipped into her slinky black running shorts and dropped a cutoff T-shirt over her head. She laced up her running shoes. The swelling in her foot had gone down, and it wasn't as sore, but her skin was still tinged a light purple. She let herself out the front door a few minutes later.
    It was a beautiful morning; sun shining, blue skies, birds singing. Billie stretched, took a deep breath, and started down the driveway, taking care with her foot. No matter what, she wanted to get out and enjoy the day.
    She wondered if she should call the police.
    Of course, they would probably assume someone in the house had forgotten to lock up before going to bed. Was it possible she had forgotten? It wasn't like she didn't have a lot on her mind these days. Maybe she
had
forgotten. She would hold off notifying the authorities and calling in a locksmith for now. Tonight she'd make a point to check the windows and see that they were securely locked, and she would double-check the doors before going to bed. And she'd hunt for the missing keys. They'd probably turn up

Chapter Twelve
    At precisely seven-thirty in the morning Nick rumbled down Billie's street in a rented motor home, trying to keep the smile from spreading across his face. He felt a little foolish, but the truth was, he'd always wanted to drive one. If he liked it, he might even buy it. He spied Billie's driveway and slowed. They were waiting for him.
    Billie didn't know what she'd expected, but it wasn't this. She tipped her head back and laughed at the sight of her handsome, suave polo player/newspaper owner and lover trying to negotiate a big, gas-guzzling motor home into her driveway. She shook her