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

across the lobby and out the hotel’s front entrance, and caught a glimpse of something blue disappear behind a planter of ferns. I followed, weaving my way down the path and around all the plants, then skidded to a stop beside a fountain with a sea horse shooting water from its nose. No sign of Ben. I’d lost him.
    Still, I wasn’t giving up. I was about to bolt to the right when a hand touched my arm. I whirled around, ready to grill Ben on why he was here.
    Only it wasn’t Ben.
    It was Luke Warner.

C HAPTER 5
    “H aley.”
    Luke said my name in a mellow voice that made my stomach feel gooey and my toes curl. But I didn’t want a gooey stomach or curling toes. This was a no-men vacation, and if I felt those things while I was here I sure as heck didn’t want Luke to be the one who caused them—not after what he’d done the last time we were together.
    “Luke,” I said, and, darn it, my voice sounded all gooey and toe-curly.
    He had on khaki cargo shorts and a shirt with palm trees on it, standard resort wear that somehow made him look more rugged and masculine. The breeze ruffled his dark hair
    “How have you been?” he asked.
    Luke had the most awesome green eyes. They seemed to look straight through me, somehow, and see my inner thoughts—or maybe that was his FBI training.
    “Great. I’ve been great,” I said.
    It wasn’t really true, but I certainly wasn’t going to tell Luke what my life had been like lately.
    “How about you?” I asked.
    He nodded thoughtfully and said, “Okay. Just okay.”
    His gaze drilled me as if he were trying to convey some deeper meaning. I figured he was thinking about how, the last time we saw each other, he’d tried to make things up to me and had asked for a second chance, but I was having none of it— that’s how upset I’d been with him.
    Luke angled closer and asked, “What brings you here?”
    Oh my God, he smelled great.
    “Vacation,” I said, and it came out sounding kind of squeaky.
    “Are you ... with someone?” he asked.
    “Friends,” I said.
    He looked relieved that I wasn’t here with a boyfriend—or maybe that was just my imagination.
    “I’m here for a wedding. A buddy from college,” he said.
    Was that a weird coincidence or what?
    We just stood there for a few seconds looking at each other and not talking—this wasn’t my first junior high moment with Luke—then we both seemed to realize it at the same time.
    “Maybe I’ll see you around,” Luke said.
    “Maybe,” I said.
    We gazed into each other’s eyes for another couple of seconds, then Luke stepped back.
    “See you,” he said.
    “Yeah,” I replied, and walked away.
    Oh my God, where was Marcie at a time like this? I absolutely had to tell her what had just happened. She had to help me interpret every word, every look, every gesture.
    I took off down the pathway, not sure where I was going as thoughts of Luke raged in my mind.
    He was here to attend a wedding? At the same time I was here on vacation? Now Luke and I were linked together. We’d found each other on this remote island. Did that mean we were destined to be together? Was it just a crazy coincidence? Was this some sort of sign?
    Was I getting carried away?
    I slowed my steps, drew in a couple of deep breaths, and tried to calm myself—something I’m not really good at.
    Oh my God, I desperately needed a mocha Frappuccino from Starbucks.
    I was going to have to ask Avery to have one flown in from the mainland—it was the only way I could deal with this Luke thing.
    I whipped around and headed back toward the hotel entrance, and noticed a flash of blue through a trellis of bright red blooms. I circled back and spotted Ben Oliver in a little alcove of flowers, parked on a bench, pounding away on his laptop.
    So it was him I’d seen inside the hotel earlier. I knew it.
    But what was a reporter for the L.A. Daily Courier doing here? Could he simply be vacationing on the island? I doubted it. Ben didn’t give