Free Eyes of Fire by Heather Graham

don’t believe it!”
    â€œNo, no, Adam didn’t attack me. He stopped the man who did.”
    â€œOut of the past and straight to the rescue,” Yancy murmured. “But who…?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œHow can you not know?”
    â€œHe was wearing a ski mask.”
    â€œA ski mask!”
    â€œSh!”
    â€œNo one is here. You were attacked by a man wearing a ski mask—on a Caribbean island?”
    Sam nodded, turning around to make sure that Yancy was right and that they hadn’t been joined as yet. “I was in the tub when this guy appeared, dressed all in black, trying to drug me, I think.”
    â€œYou think,” Yancy murmured skeptically.
    â€œYancy, he had some kind of a cloth in his hands.”
    â€œBlack?”
    â€œRight. Damn it, Yancy, this is serious.”
    â€œI’m sorry. So tell me—”
    â€œHe was definitely trying to drug me. I can still recall the awful scent of the cloth. I was nearly knocked out, but then the guy in the ski mask was pulled away—”
    â€œAdam?”
    â€œYes.”
    Yancy was quiet for a minute. Then she shrugged. “Well, he is useful,” she said.
    â€œYancy…”
    â€œOkay, so did you try to breathe wine because of the attack, or because of Adam?”
    â€œYancy!”
    â€œAh, because of Adam,” Yancy said.
    â€œYancy….”
    â€œHe did save you, right?”
    â€œYes, he did.”
    â€œAnd you said thank you.”
    â€œMore or less.”
    â€œSam!”
    â€œYancy, you’re missing the point.”
    â€œI’m not missing the point. There’s a dangerous whacko running around the island. We don’t want everyone to check out of the hotel, but neither do we want anyone else attacked by the whacko.”
    â€œIt’s strange, but I don’t think this particular whacko is a danger to the general public.”
    â€œNow you’re losing me.”
    â€œI don’t think our guests are in danger.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œThe whacko is one of our guests,” she said, evading a direct answer to the question. She didn’t want to admit that she was relying on Adam’s judgment.
    â€œMy, my, my. What is the world coming to? Imagine. We’re letting the riffraff onto Seafire Isle.”
    â€œYancy, it isn’t funny.”
    â€œOf course it’s not funny. You could have been…hurt. Or worse. Maybe we should call the mainland police.”
    â€œI—I decided not to.”
    Yancy arched a brow. “Did Adam suggest that you not do so?”
    â€œNot exactly. He pointed out that it might not do me much good, and that I might wind up in greater danger.”
    Yancy lifted her hands and let them fall back on the armrests of the chair. “Why?”
    Sam didn’t answer her. She frowned suddenly. “Yancy, where’s the baby?”
    Yancy smiled. “Upstairs. Lillie Wie is staying overnight because of the dinner party. She and Brian are napping right alongside each other.”
    â€œOh!” Sam said, leaning back into the chair with relief. Brian was six months old—and the love of all their lives. He had his father’s blue eyes and toffee brown hair, and the most winning smile known to man. Lillie was one of the day maids. There were four of them altogether; they came in the morning from Freeport and usually left with the mail boat in the afternoon, along with the two grounds keepers. Sam hadn’t been quite twenty-two when her father had disappeared, but between herself, Jem Fisher and Yancy, they had divided the duties on the island in a manner that had worked well right from the very beginning. Jem supervised maintenance, tennis, golf, lawn care, pool and beach care, and any repairs that became necessary. There were only two tennis courts, and the golf course was only nine holes. There was also only one pool, so Jem didn’t find his