Undercover Pursuit (11 page)

“You're so—”

“Scarlett!” The voice rose above the waves and the call of the gulls. Luke turned, still caught in his words, now tucked back inside where they belonged.
Beautiful. You're so beautiful, Scarlett.

Benito ran toward them. “Oh, I'm so glad I found you. I don't know what to do.”

“What's the matter?” Luke asked, but Benito ignored him.

“Lucia is missing.”

D
espite being a professional, Luke was doing a poor job of hiding his panic over Lucia's disappearance. Scarlett reached out, slid her hand into his and offered a reassuring squeeze.

Somehow over the past hour, she'd suddenly felt as if she and Luke might be a team, in this together. That, when he'd stopped her outside her sister's villa, he had genuinely cared about her and why she'd been crying.

He'd even taken her into his arms, pulled her close. And she'd drunk in his kindness.

He seemed to actually care, those amazing eyes fixed on her as he listened to her words.

As if they mattered.

As if
she
mattered.

“What do you mean she's ‘missing?'” Luke asked. Scarlett detected a slight trembling in his voice.

“She was supposed to be trying on her wedding dress, but she—and the dress—are gone,” Benito said. “I searched the yacht, but she isn't there, and she isn't in our villa, either. I don't know where she went.” Benito shook his head. “You don't think that whoever put that shark in front of our door would really hurt her, do you? I knew I shouldn't have left her alone.” He turned to
Scarlett, his eyes dark. “Why did you leave her alone? I thought you were seasick. You don't look seasick.”

“I promise, I was sick, Benito,” she said, glancing at Luke. He looked angry. She could almost see him rise, draw himself up. Down boy, she tried to communicate with her eyes. “But I'm feeling much better. I just don't have sea legs.” She pressed a hand to his arm. “But don't worry, I'll find Lucia. I'll bet it's just prewedding jitters. All brides get them—I promise, it's normal.”

Benito put his hands on his hips and looked down at the sand.

“Go back to the yacht and wait for her there. I'll track her down.” She glanced at Luke. “I'll see you later, darling.”

She turned to leave, but Luke caught her arm and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “Be careful.”

Oh, she had no doubt that as soon as he could ditch Benito, he'd track them both down.

So where was Lucia?

Prewedding jitters were not likely, because there would be no wedding. But a woman who loved her man—which Lucia clearly did—would want a taste of the happiness she could have had. Especially after trying on her wedding dress.

Scarlett headed up the path to the cabana and recognized a familiar face behind the bar. Raoul looked up and smiled at her as he wiped a glass.
“Hola, señorita.”

“Hello, Raoul. Where's your wedding chapel?”

She should probably know this since she was supposed to be organizing the big day, but she'd been focusing on one crisis at a time. And, well, she'd been let go from her maid-of-honor job, hadn't she?

“I will show you,” he said, coming around the bar. He nodded to the other bartender on duty and led the
way out of the cabana to a golf cart, motioning for her to hop on.

She slipped onto the bench seat and held the bar as they lurched up the path, past the hotel, to another path on the far side of the resort. Crushed coral lined the pathway to a semi-covered pavilion built into the rock overlooking the ocean. It had seating for perhaps fifty.

And in the arch stood a woman in a wedding dress, facing the sea.

“Thank you, Raoul.”

“Anything you need, ma'am,” he said. “You want me to wait?”

“I'll take it from here,” she said and climbed out.

Yes, she could see herself getting married in this place. The pavilion rose on bamboo pillars, twined with bougainvillea. Instead of a red carpet, sea jewels—washed glass in red and greens—inlaid a path to the altar, the sun slanting through the slats of the open roof.

Lucia didn't turn as Scarlett's flip-flops slapped on the path. Her dress was beautiful with the train fanned out, revealing the scalloped edge, the lacy inset. A halter dress, it buttoned behind her neck, leaving her tanned back open.

She finally sighed and turned. Something about her expression said that she expected someone else.

“It's just me, your maid of honor.”

Lucia tried a smile, but it fell and she turned away as Scarlett joined her.

“This is some view.” Indeed, waves crashed into the gullies of the cliffs below, the sky endless, cottony clouds hanging over the far horizon. If she spread her arms, she might be able to soar.

“I want to jump,” Lucia said. “I want to jump and
forget that I fell in love with a terrorist. That I am going to deceive the man I want to spend my life with.”

“You really want to spend your life with Benito?”

Lucia sighed. “A version of him, yes. The kind and gentle man who loves me.” She held a bougainvillea blossom. After a moment, she tossed it over the edge. Scarlett watched as it dropped and was engulfed by the waves below. “I didn't expect to fall in love, you know. I expected a monster. I expected him to repulse me. I expected to do a job and leave with my heart intact.”

She closed her eyes. “He is not the man I expected. And soon, I found myself not able to pretend anymore.”

Not able to pretend anymore.

Scarlett wrapped her arms around herself. “I don't think we can plan out who we'll fall in love with. We just have to be willing to bear the consequences.”

“I can't.”

Her quiet, even plaintive words speared through Scarlett.

“I love him, Scarlett. This is no longer a game or a mission to me.” She turned, her eyes red and full of tears. “This is as close as I will get to my wedding day.”

Scarlett slid her arm around Lucia's waist. “I'm sorry.”

“I began to believe in the fairy tale. I lied to myself and said that Benito wasn't a killer. That he would never hurt people. And, truthfully, I've never seen him be ruthless or hurt anyone. But how can he be a part of the Sanchez family and not know about their crimes?”

“Maybe he has nothing to do with their crimes.”

She sighed. “Even if he doesn't, he will never forgive
me for what I am about to do to his family. A man does not forget betrayal.”

Scarlett had nothing to say to that. “Benito is looking for you—”

“Lucia!”

As if saying his name had conjured him, Benito slammed the brakes on his golf cart and jumped out, running through the pavilion. “Why did you run away?”

Luke climbed out, his face taut.

“I didn't run away,” Lucia said, clearly trying too hard to add a lightness to her voice. She laughed and it fell flat. “I was just nervous, and I thought if I came here, the fear would go away. And now you've wrecked it, because don't you know it's bad luck to see your bride before the wedding?”

But Benito scooped her up and she laughed. Perhaps only Scarlett saw how she blinked away tears.

This is no longer a game to me.

“Is everything okay?” Luke said, reaching her. He slid his arm around her shoulders.

“Like I said, prewedding jitters,” Scarlett said. Luke nodded.

Benito put Lucia down, took her hand and stared out at the ocean. “So, this is where I'll marry my bride. Beautiful.” He looked at Luke, as if for confirmation.

“Yes. Of course. But are you talking about Lucia, or the view?”

Benito grinned, kissing Lucia's hand.

“I think you two should get married here, too. The view is too lovely to waste.”

Luke managed a smile. Scarlett opened her mouth but nothing emerged.

“See, they are considering it.” Benito nodded, a dan
gerous twinkle in his eyes. “Perhaps we should have a double wedding? Doesn't every woman dream of getting married with her best friend?”

“Oh, no, I…of course, Lucia and I would love to get married together.” She glanced at Lucia, who wore an enigmatic smile. “But I need to get married in Minnesota. I can't get married here.”

“Why not? Get married now, have your reception in Minnesota.”

“I don't have a dress, and besides, my family isn't here.”

“That's right, Benito,” Lucia said. “Her family isn't here.”

Benito pressed another kiss to her hand. “At least you have family. My bride has no one. We must make sure your bridesmaid is here to celebrate with you. No more seasickness. We'll move the rehearsal dinner to the cabana tonight.”

Then he bent down and kissed Scarlett's cheek. “Thank you for finding her.”

But Scarlett only noticed the keen pressure of Luke's hand on hers. Which probably ended up saving them when a voice shrilled through the pavilion. “What is going on in here?”

Luke looked at her, eyes wide. For a second, she wanted to see if perhaps she could take flight. “Uh…”

Bridgett, now attired in a long, breezy dress, and her two remaining bridesmaids marched down the center aisle, right up to Scarlett. “I thought I told you to stay away from my wedding.”

“I…”

“She's not in your wedding,” Lucia said, casting Scarlett a look. “She's in mine. She's my maid of honor.”

Bridgett glanced at Lucia. “What are you talking about? She's
my
maid of honor.”

“No, I'm not,” Scarlett said, ignoring the confusion on Bridgett's face. And then something took a hold of her and she said, “I don't even know you.”

Bridgett recoiled as if she'd been slapped. “What? You're my sister.”

Scarlett frowned and gave thanks for once that she hadn't inherited a drop of Bridgett's beauty. She resembled their Irish mother, thank you very much, with her height issues, her curves, her green eyes and dark unruly hair. “C'mon Lucia, let's get you ready for your party tonight.” She reached out her hand.

Benito caught it. “Wait a second here.” He turned to Bridgett. “Who are you?”

“I'm Bridgett Hanson. And this is my sister, Scarlett.”

Benito raised an eyebrow. “Her sister? What are you doing here?”

“I'm getting married.” She looked at Lucia. “What are you doing?”

“I'm getting married, too.” Lucia tightened her hold on Scarlett's hand. “Tomorrow night.”

“
I'm
getting married tomorrow night. Here.”

“I don't think so,” Lucia said, glancing at Luke.

“Well, if not here, then somewhere on this resort.” Bridgett said. “I am just heading in now to arrange it with the coordinator.” She turned to Scarlett. “So, what are you doing here? Why are you with him? What's going on?”

What would a real spy do, or say? What—

“I'm her fiancé. Remember, we met yesterday? In the spa?” Good thing Luke had her hand or she might fall right over.

“Of course I remember you. When did this happen? In the taxi ride to the island?” She turned to Scarlett. “You said you barely knew this guy! What about Dylan?”

Benito's eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Well, see, Luke and I have a sort of on-again, off-again—”

“On-again,” he said quickly.

“—relationship.”

“Yeah, I surprised her here when I heard she was coming.”

“But didn't you and she come for our wedding?” Benito asked.

“We did, but we had a big fight a few weeks ago, and she called it off. So I thought I'd try and see if this romantic setting wouldn't woo her back into my arms.” As if to emphasize his words, Luke pulled her into a side embrace. “And it worked.”

“There
was
something strange about you two that first night on the yacht,” Benito said.

“You spent the night on a yacht with him?”

Scarlett rolled her eyes and didn't even try to defend her virtue to her sister.

“But I don't understand. Whose wedding is she in?” Benito asked.

“Mine!” Bridgett and Lucia chorused.

Oh, boy.

“I don't understand.” Benito's tone had a muscle twitching in Luke's jaw. “Do you know her or not?”

That's when the words finally arrived. Scarlett stepped out of Luke's embrace. “Yes, but sometimes I don't want to.”

Bridgett's eyes widened, her mouth opening.

“And this entire coincidence is my fault. See, as soon
as I found out about Bridgett's wedding, I told Lucia about the destination on Isla Mujeres—”

“I knew I was here first!” Bridgett said. “I should have the pavilion!”

Scarlett ignored her. “Lucia loved the idea of a destination wedding, although I had no idea that they'd actually pick the same dates. And then, when Bridgett fired me as maid of honor—”

“She fired you?” Benito said.

“Twice. So I thought it wouldn't be a problem for me to attend your wedding, but then Bridgett needed me again, so I thought I'd just attend both—”

“As the maid of honor?”

“What can I say? I'm popular.”

She didn't miss Luke's smile. And it sent warmth through her, emboldened her.

“I'm sorry for the mix-up. But don't worry, Benito, I'm fired again, so I'll be here for Lucia. Right by her side the entire time.”

Luke's smile vanished as a slow grin slid over Benito's face. “So, this
is
your sister!”

Perhaps he'd been in the sun too long?

“You can get married!”

“Married?” Bridgett asked.

“Married?” Lucia said, her eyebrow rising.

“Married?” Scarlett echoed.

“Yes. Right here, tomorrow, beside Lucia.”

Luke's arm tightened around her.

“I can't think of any reason why not, can you?” Benito asked.

Luke's mouth opened yet nothing came out.

Scarlett couldn't work with nothing.

“Then it's a double wedding.” He leaned down, kissed
Scarlett on the cheek, then clamped Luke on the arm. “C'mon, Luke. Let's get you a suit.”

Luke looked hard at Scarlett and she managed a smile and a nod.

“You're getting married?” Bridgett asked, her gaze going between Lucia and Scarlett.