Island Getaway, An Art Crime Team Mystery (28 page)

“Oh. No, I ain’t looking for anything
special.”

He turned away, to contemplate a picture of
a black Baby Jesus forgotten on the wall behind the door. I left
him to it. If he
was
looking for something in particular, he
obviously wasn’t going to tell me what it was, and whatever it
might have been, he didn’t find it, because he was still
empty-handed and silent when we went back down the stairs.

“Just the first floor left,” I said brightly
when we stood in the downstairs hall again. “Parlors, sitting
rooms, dining rooms, and other formal-rooms. Ready?”

Rafe nodded, unmoved. I headed off down the
hallway with him right behind.

The first room we entered was empty. It was
a formal parlor or sitting room, with faded, peeling wallpaper
sporting big, red cabbage roses, and a rather nice fireplace on one
wall. The moth-eaten draperies were closed, leaving the room in
semi-darkness, and while I walked over to the window to pull them
aside, Rafe went directly to the adjoining door into the next room.
And stopped in the doorway, as quickly and completely as if he had
walked into an invisible wall. I took one look at him, at the tense
muscles and somehow brittle posture, and moved to join him.

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About the Author
New York Times bestselling author Jennie Bentley/Jenna Bennett
writes the Do It Yourself home renovation mysteries for Berkley
Prime Crime and the Cutthroat Business mysteries for her own
gratification. She also writes a variety of romance, from
contemporary to futuristic and from paranormal to romantic suspense
for a change of pace. For more information, please visit her
website at
www.jennabennett.com

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