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

That’s it. I wanted to see the island, so I—”
    The door opened behind me, and the two detectives jerked their heads up to see who had interrupted their interrogation. Seeing this as a possible opening to escape, I turned too and caught a glimpse of a guy ducking out of the room, as if he entered by mistake.
    Hang on a minute.
    Was that—?
    My senses jumped to high alert. My heart started to pound. My thoughts raced trying to match the glimpse I’d gotten to a person I knew.
    Tall, rugged build, maybe thirty, dark brown hair, green eyes, really handsome.
    Then it hit me. Oh my God. Oh my God . Luke Warner.
    Luke was an FBI agent. He’d been working undercover on a case in the L.A. Garment District a few months ago. I was there too, looking for the same murderer. Something had definitely sparked between us—long story—but I’d put an end to it after he—
    I’m not thinking about that now. I’m on vacation.
    But was that really Luke I’d seen coming into the room? Or had my no-men thoughts conjured up a hot guy from my past?
    And if it was Luke, what was he doing here? Why would the FBI be involved?
    “Miss Randolph,” Detective Pearce said, “if you’re not willing to cooperate with us during this interview, we can always go to the station.”
    Okay, now I was a little ticked off. I didn’t like being threatened—and I didn’t like thinking about Luke Warner.
    “Look,” I said. “I went for a walk. I found a body—something that, apparently, you police hadn’t been able to do after searching for two days.”
    They both drew back a little, which was kind of nice.
    Then it hit me that I’d be better off just answering their questions so I could get this so-called interview over with quickly. If I gave them too many problems they might decide to investigate me —which would lead them to L.A. homicide detective Madison, Shuman’s partner, who had tried, and failed, numerous times to find me guilty of something . Plus, I didn’t want to be stuck in this room so long that my BFFs started to wonder where I was and ask questions. I really didn’t want anyone to know I’d discovered a murder victim.
    It might spoil our vacation.
    I mean that in the nicest way.
    And, of course, I needed to get back to my search for the Sea Vixen—plus, a Snickers bar or two would go a long way toward boosting my day right now.
    “So, that’s it. I went for a walk, spotted the body, and reported it. That’s the sum total of my involvement,” I said, and rose from my chair. “If you have any more questions, you can contact my lawyer.”
    I gave them my pageant queen mom’s I’m-better-than-you glare—which wasn’t easy for me to pull off, especially since I didn’t actually have a lawyer—then whipped around and left the room.
    In the hallway I saw no sign of Luke—if it really was Luke—which annoyed me. And I was annoyed further that I’d thought about him and maybe it wasn’t even him , which made no sense either, but there it was.
    I drew a deep breath, forcing my thoughts onto my no-thinking-about-men policy for this vacation. It was proving harder than I imagined. Maybe I needed a distraction.
    The image of massive amounts of chocolate floated through my brain. Jeez, what was I waiting for?
    I headed down the corridor, sure that a gift shop or snack bar had to be here somewhere, and heard someone call my name.
    Immediately, my own personal interpretation of the Holt’s Department Store customer service training kicked in and I walked faster—too bad that outdistancing customers who might want help wasn’t an Olympic event; I’d have the gold for sure.
    “Haley?” Avery jogged up beside me.
    Wow, these Rowan employees must be really dedicated. She’d moved pretty fast.
    Maybe she’d worked retail.
    “Oh, hi, Avery,” I said, as if I hadn’t heard her call my name six times.
    “Could I speak with you for a moment?” she asked.
    I followed her to a little alcove.
    “Please allow me to