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“I—I’m sorry. I didn’t—”

The door burst open, banging against the wall with enough force to rattle the nearby shelves. Matt stood in the doorway, gaze moving from Kaitlin’s ashen face to Jasper and the dead snake dangling from his massive fist.

“I heard screaming,” he said.

“Snake,” Jasper explained simply, holding up his kill. “Behind the shelf.”

Matt’s posture relaxed slightly, though wariness lingered in his eyes. “Down here? A rattler? That’s… unusual.”

“Found its way in somehow,” Jasper replied with a shrug. He walked toward the door, the serpent’s body swinging with his movement. “Getting rid of it now.”

Then Jasper was gone. His heavy tread receded up the stairs, leaving her alone with Matt and the lingering horror of what might have been.

“You okay?” Matt crossed to where she stood still braced against the shelving unit.

Kaitlin tried to nod, but the motion set the room spinning around her. “I’m dandy,” she managed, though the tremor in her voice betrayed her. “Just another day at the office.”

Matt’s eyes narrowed. “You’re white as a sheet. Sit down before you fall down.”

His hand at her elbow guided her to a wooden chair tucked against the wall. Kaitlin sank into it gratefully, legs suddenly too weak to support her. The adrenaline that had flooded her system began to ebb, leaving cold nausea in its wake.

“Timber rattlers are really rare, and highly poisonous,” Matt said gently. “Jasper probably saved you from a nasty bite, at the very least.”

“I know.” Kaitlin closed her eyes, trying to steady her breathing. “That’s not why I screamed. He closed the door.” Kaitlin’s words tumbled out. “And he had the hammer, and he was coming toward me, and I just…” She broke off, embarrassed by the admission. “I jumped to conclusions. Horrible, unfair conclusions. He worked at the mansion when those women disappeared. And because he’s… different. I feel terrible. He was trying to protect me, and I thought…” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

“Jasper’s been the subject of island suspicion his whole life,” Matt said quietly. “People see his size, his silence, and they make assumptions. Let’s get you upstairs. You shouldn’t be down here anyway, doctor’s orders.”

Kaitlin allowed him to help her to her feet, grateful for the steady support of his arm when her legs threatened to give way again. The ledger she’d been seeking lay forgotten on the floor, its pages splayed open like broken wings.

“I needed those records.” She gestured weakly.

“I’ll bring them up,” Matt replied, his tone brooking no argument. “Right now, you need air that doesn’t smell like smoke and damp.”

The climb back to the main floor seemed to take twice as long as the descent had. By the time they reached the entrance hall, Kaitlin’s legs had steadied, but her heart still raced with the aftermath of fear. Matt kept his hand at the small of her back, a reassuring pressure guiding her toward the library.

In the sunlit room, he settled her in a chair near the window, then stepped out and returned with a glass of water. The water soothed her throat, raw from the scream that still seemed to echo in her ears. Matt pulled up a chair opposite her, close enough that their knees nearly touched.

“Better?” he asked after she’d taken several careful swallows.

“Yes. Thank you.” Kaitlin set the glass aside, embarrassment returning now that the immediate danger had passed. “I feel foolish. Jumping at shadows.”

“Don’t.” Matt’s voice was firm.

“I should apologize to him,” she said.

Matt leaned forward, his gaze steady on her face. “What were you doing in the basement anyway? Amy was pretty clear about you staying upstairs.”

“I wanted those personnel files,” Kaitlin explained. “The ones from 1991. It was faster to show Jasper than for him to find them on his own in that mess.”

“And instead you found a snake.” Matt shook his head. His expression darkened. “Rattler bites can be fatal without prompt medical treatment. I doubt Kelsey keeps anti-venom on hand at the clinic. And this island is a long way from the nearest hospital.”

The water in Kaitlin’s stomach turned to ice. “First the fire, now this.”

Sunlight continued to pour through the tall windows, creating an illusion of warmth and safety Kaitlin didn’t trust. The mansion’s beauty, its grandeur, was an elaborate camouflage concealing dark truths.

Chapter 11

The autumn afternoon light slanted through the tall windows of the mansion’s library, casting long shadows across the makeshift workstation. Her hands still trembled slightly, an aftereffect of the adrenaline that had coursed through her system during the encounter in the basement.