Read Beach Bags and Burglaries (A Haley Randolph Mystery) for Free Online

thoughtful.”
    “Are you honeymooning here?” Sandy asked.
    “Tate’s a lawyer, you know,” Yasmin said. “He works at my daddy’s firm, and he’s so smart. Everybody at the firm loves him, and they all think he’s brilliant.”
    “How many bridesmaids do you have?” Sandy asked.
    “Tate picked out the most gorgeous tuxedo for the ceremony,” Yasmin said. “He has perfect taste in absolutely everything.”
    Bella caught my gaze and mouthed, “What the hell?”
    I mouthed back, “I hate her.”
    Bella just nodded.
    I sat up in my chair and looked around. Where the heck was that waiter? I desperately needed a drink.
    “You won’t believe my flowers,” Yasmin declared, and clapped for no apparent reason. “Lilies, shipped all the way from Holland. And tucked inside my bouquet will be a special pendant called the Heart of Amour. It’s an antique, or something. It has a huge jewel in it that Tate’s cousin bought in Paris, which is, oh my God, the most romantic city in the world.”
    Nobody said anything.
    “The necklace has been inside the bouquet at four weddings in Tate’s family,” Yasmin said, “and whoever caught the bouquet got married within a few months—all of them! So Tate said we absolutely have to use the Heart of Amour in our wedding.”
    Nobody said anything.
    “And then— then —Tate insisted I go to New York to buy my wedding gown. He planned the whole trip. Me, my mom, all my bridesmaids. Limos, champagne, a personal escort, everything,” Yasmin said. “He’s always thinking about new ways to make me happy.”
    It sounded to me as if Tate-Tate-Tate was always thinking of new ways to make partner in her daddy’s firm.
    “Tate insisted I try on every gown in every shop so I would get the one I really wanted, so I did.” Yasmin pulled her cell phone from the pocket of her cover-up. “Let me show you the pictures.”
    I sprang out of the lounge chair as if I were lunging for the last Michael Kors satchel on a Macy’s sale table.
    “I have to go,” I said.
    Bella hopped up, too. “Yeah, so do I.”
    “But you just got here,” Sandy said.
    “And I haven’t told you Tate’s ideas for the reception,” Yasmin said.
    “I’m—I’m expecting a call,” I said.
    “Yeah, and I have to be careful not to get too much sun,” Bella said.
    We grabbed our things and took off. Marcie and Sandy—who were clearly nicer than Bella and me—stayed.
    “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to a wedding here?” Bella asked as we trudged across the beach.
    “I’m not,” I told her. “I wasn’t invited.”
    Bella frowned. “She’s your friend?”
    “Yeah, sort of.”
    “And she didn’t invite you to her wedding?” Bella asked. “That’s b.s. You ask me, that’s b.s.”
    “Really, I’m okay with it,” I said.
    Bella nodded. “I can see why.”
    We caught the next tram, rode back to the hotel, and went upstairs.
    “Want to go get something to eat?” Bella asked as we walked down the corridor.
    “Sure,” I said, digging in my tote for my resort pass room key.
    “I’ll meet you in the lobby in a few minutes,” she said, and let herself into her room.
    I scrounged through my tote—I was positive the Sea Vixen had better pocket organizers—and finally came up with my key.
    “Excuse me?” someone called.
    From the corner of my eye I glimpsed a young woman hurrying toward me. My initial reaction—thanks to my Holt’s training—was to ignore her, but then I saw that she had on a burgundy uniform and figured she was one of the hotel maids.
    “You’re Miss Randolph, aren’t you?” she asked, stopping in front of me.
    Wow, even the maids knew me by name. The Rowan Resort gave top-notch service, all right.
    “I’m Tabitha,” she said, pointing to the name tag pinned to the lapel of her uniform.
    She was blond with bright blue eyes, probably just out of her teens. I figured she was one of the college students who worked here.
    Tabitha was really small, and I