Serpent in Paradise by Unknown

chair, catching
    hold of her wrist and forcing her to a halt—"I am not condoning that kind
    of irresponsibility, regardless of the circumstances, but you can't judge all
    men on the actions of a few."
    "A few! More like a majority!"
    "You're right. This probably is a pointless argument," he muttered.
    "Why the hell should I take it on my shoulders to defend the entire male
    sex? And on an issue that is moot in my case anyway!"
    She heard the frustration and controlled anger in his voice, and
    something in her relented. "I know I shouldn't tar all men with the same
    brush, Jase. It's just that back in the States family life seems to have
    gotten a little precarious, to put it mildly. I know there are some
    exceptions. Men like Adam Trembach."
    "But because of your mother's situation and your sister's mess, you've
    had a front-row view of the changing role of the family in modern society,
    hmmm? Maybe I haven't missed so much by avoiding civilization during
    the past decade," he suggested with a conciliatory smile.
    She stared at him in silence, a part of her longing to point out that
    wasting one's life on an island in the Pacific was hardly a viable alternative
    to civilization, but she, too, was tired of the argument. "I'll be right back
    with the mask." She hastened up the stairs.
    It really was a rather ugly thing. Carved out of a nondescript wood, the
    mask was about the size of Jase's palm. It had once been painted, but the
    garish coating had long since chipped away from the surface. The
    maniacally grinning features were a caricature of human ones, probably
    representing some minor devil.
    "Not a very prepossessing work of art, is it?" Jase commented dryly,
    examining the thing carefully.
    "No. I can't imagine why Haley wants it so badly. But I'm certainly
    going to find out."
    "Well, I think the first thing to do is hide this." Jase tossed the old
    wooden carving idly into the air and caught it.
    "Hide it?"
    "I don't like the idea of your carrying it around in your handbag. If
    Haley comes looking for it again, I'd rather he didn't have the satisfaction
    of finding it."
    That made sense. "Where shall we put it?" Amy asked with interest.
    He thought a moment and then started down the hall to the far end of
    the house. "I think I know just the place. The old sea captain who built
    this house had a library with some interesting built-in features."
    "Like what?" Amy demanded, following in his path.
    "Like a bookshelf with a false back. I'll show you." Striding into a
    sparsely furnished room that contained a surprisingly large book
    collection, Jase walked across the sisal matting on the floor and tugged at
    a seemingly solid bookcase shelf. Amy watched in pleased astonishment as
    two shelves full of books swung open on hinges to reveal an empty shelf
    built into the wall.
    "A very clever sea captain!" she said. "You'd never know the opening
    was there. I wonder what he used to keep in that space."
    "One of the most interesting collections of Victorian erotica I've ever
    seen," Jase told her dryly, placing the mask on the empty shelf in the wall
    and swinging the bookcase shut.
    "Dirty books! Jase, you're kidding!" For the first time that morning real
    humor filled Amy's gray-green eyes.
    "This island is a little isolated, Amy, in case you haven't noticed," he
    reminded her politely. "A man sometimes has to use his imagination. Just
    ask Sam."
    She thought of Sam and his girlie magazines and grinned. "I get the
    point. What did you do with the erotica, Jase?"
    "Read it, naturally," he drawled. "And then gave it to Ray, who in turn
    made a tidy profit selling it to sailors."
    "Men and their fantasies," she groaned.
    "Are you trying to imply that women don't fantasize?" he challenged.
    She lifted her chin and moved regally toward the door. "You're not
    going to draw me into an argument like that!"
    "Coward," he taunted gently behind her.
    She ignored him. "What are you going to do today?" she asked,
    deliberately changing