“But about the charges. You have every right. Upset or not, what she did was not okay.”

Connor waved the words off. There was no way he was putting a tough woman who was trying not to be scared in a jail cell. He refused to be that guy. “I just want to know why she went wild.” A thought hit him and he froze. “Wait, did she and Hansen have some sort of problem?”

“I doubt they ever met.”

That made absolutely no sense. “He lived here for a year. I’ve been here for about a day and have had two run-ins with her.”

“She’s . . . reclusive. People tend to say they just saw her but can’t describe what she was wearing or what she was doing. She has a unique ability to blend in.” Ben looked like he wanted to tell Connor more, as if he were waging some internal battle, but then shook his head.

“You know that’s unusual, right? I mean, I get that Whitaker works differently from other places, but her level of self-protection and wariness is a bit much.”

“There are things in her past, things that are none of our business, that make her very careful of people and promises. She’s not the type to let people in.”

Just as Connor suspected. “Join the club.”

Ben nodded. “Then you get it.”

“Her antipeople stance is fine with me so long as she doesn’t come into my house and attack me with a stick again.”

Some of the seriousness strangling the room eased away as Ben laughed. “Not an unreasonable requirement. But at least we know there’s not some angry person out there, trying to hurt you.”

“I should be able to sleep in the cabin tonight without a knife under my pillow.”

Ben’s smile grew. “Aren’t you the risk taker?”

“One question.”

Ben braced his hands on the armrests of his chair. “Shoot.”

“Any other women on the island in the habit of breaking into a random stranger’s house and attacking him?” Because even Connor had his limits.

“Excellent question. We’ll see, won’t we?”

Chapter 5

Connor liked Sylvia Sussex the second he met her. She owned Berman’s Lodge, the combination historic hotel and favorite eating establishment in the middle of Whitaker’s downtown. She was also the head of something called the Whitaker Board, but when he asked for details, she just rolled her eyes. And that made him like her even more.

From the way she nodded and waved to everyone who walked into the open dining room, she seemed to know the whole town. The details she whispered as each person passed their table suggested she knew a bit of gossip about everyone. Also a very useful trait.