“A threat. Sort of.” Even as she said it, the word resonated wrongly. Too soft. “It said I should leave the island. That I shouldn’t be here.”
“And you reported it.”
“Of course. Zach came immediately.” Well, it was Morgan who called him. He was still notified. He’d still shown up.
“Good,” Kate’s voice held a flicker of approval. “What did he say?”
Emma hesitated. The conversation with Zach replayed in her mind—his rigid stance in her doorway, the absolute certainty in his manner when he’d demanded she relocate.
The way he’d looked at her when she’d said no.
“He thinks it’s serious,” Emma acknowledged. “He wants me to move out for a few days, since the letter writer knows where I live.” She shrugged, although Kate couldn't see her. “I told him no.”
The silence that followed was weighted.
Emma rushed to fill it. “Kate, it’s nothing. The resort’s been tense—people are stressed about the opening timeline, the hiring quotas. I’ve rejected a lot of applications. It's probably someone trying to scare me.”
“Emma—”
Emma's tone sharpened. “I’m not going to overreact to a prank. Moving into Zach’s protective custody over a single childish note is overkill.”
Another pause. Emma could almost see Kate on the other end—in her home office, a little crease between her brows that appeared when she was thinking.
“I called because I had a feeling,” Kate said. “The kind that shouldn’t be ignored.”
Emma blinked. “A feeling?”
“I didn’t sleep last night. Had a nightmare—one of those you where you remember the feelings but not the details. So I took a nap this afternoon and woke up a few minutes ago with the compelling sense that something wasn’t right. On the island. With you.” Kate’s voice was steady, composed. “I’ve learned not to ignore those feelings. That’s why I called—to warn you.”
Emma’s grip stiffened on the phone. Kate wasn’t dramatic. She didn’t exaggerate. If she were concerned enough to call…
But accepting that meant the threat was real.
“I appreciate you checking on me,” Emma said slowly. “I do. But I think Zach’s overreacting. He sees threats everywhere—it’s his job. This is doubtless resort politics. Someone trying to intimidate me.”
“Emma,” Kate’s voice shifted. Lower. More compelling. “Do you remember what happened to me?”
Emma’s chest tightened. “Of course.”
“Then you know I understand what you’re going through right now.”
The room felt smaller now. Emma’s gaze drifted to the window, to the setting sun outside. Across the property, security lights were flickering on.
“I thought the threat wasn’t real too,” Kate continued. “I convinced myself it was nothing. That people were overreacting.”
Emma said nothing, her throat dry.
“I was wrong,” Kate declared. “And it almost cost me everything. If Zach hadn’t insisted on protecting me—if I’d brushed it off—I don’t know if I’d be here right now.”
The words landed like stones dropping into still water.
Emma’s hand moved to her chest, pressing against the flutter of unease beneath her ribs. She’d heard the stories secondhand. Kate had been targeted, locked in a sauna, then drugged and kidnapped.
The three brothers rescued her, with Zach in the lead.
But that was different.
Wasn’t it?
