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She entered the kitchen and sighed. “That smells heavenly. What can I do to help?”
“I’ve got it under control. You could get out the sour cream and some plates. We’ll be ready to eat in a few minutes.” The already-hot water went back to boiling quickly when he set his induction range on high, and he dropped the noodles into the froth.
She went to the new gray cabinets and found the plates. “Ooh, these are Spode Blue Italian! I love them.”
“They were our mom’s. She collected Spode for years.”
“What happened to your parents?”
His gut tightened and he turned his back to her to stir the noodles. It wasn’t something he liked talking about. “My mom started the car in the garage and lowered the door, then sat out there. Dad found her, and I think he didn’t want to live without her, so he just climbed into the car and waited for death too. She’d struggled with depression for years. The only reason we know it had to have gone down that way was because of stomach contents and time of death.”
He felt her hand on his shoulder, and her sweet breath lifted the hair on the nape of his neck. “I’m so sorry.”
“I was supposed to be home by four to go with them to a family reunion, but we had a missing swimmer, and it was all-hands-on-deck for the police force. I was late. I suppose I should feel guilty, but mostly I’m just angry. She didn’t think about how the rest of us would feel, and neither did he.”
“I know how it feels.”
Sympathy radiated off her in waves, and he remembered how her dad had abandoned her and her sisters after their mother died. His dad had done the same thing—just in a slightly different manner. Maybe she did understand.
Seven
Conversation with Lucas had been surprisingly easy. Carly folded the last of Noah’s laundry and put it away. Gram was already in bed, and Carly had kept her evening to herself. Gram would have read something into Lucas’s invitation that simply wasn’t there.
The baby slept soundly, his little mouth working in his sleep. Carly yawned and turned out the light. She slid between the sheets and sighed with contentment. It had been a long day, but at least she wasn’t alone in this quest now. Lucas’s help had changed everything. Her grief had left her feeling so alone in spite of Gram’s presence, but she felt like she had an ally now.
Her eyes drifted shut, and she settled deeper into the mattress. It seemed only moments before she awoke with a start, but after looking at the clock on her bedside table, she realized she’d been asleep for three hours. It was after one, and yet her heart pounded as if she’d been running. What had awakened her in such a state? Had she been dreaming of finding Eric? But she couldn’t remember anything.
A thump came from overhead, and her mouth went dry. Was someone in the attic? She tried to tell herself it was asquirrel or a raccoon, but the movements she heard through the ceiling felt more deliberate and hushed, as if someone was trying to be quiet.
She flung back the covers and reached for her phone. Without stopping to think about it, she called Lucas’s number.
He picked it up on the third ring. “Detective Bennett.”
She held the phone close to her mouth and whispered, “Lucas, it’s Carly. I think there’s someone in the attic.”
“I’ll be right there.”
The call ended, and she laid the phone down and went to the door. She eased it open and looked down the dark hallway toward the door to the attic stairs. Was it a trick of the dark, or did it stand open a few inches? She laced her fingers together and tried to calm her breathing so her heart rate would resume its normal rhythm. What should she do? She had to let Lucas inside, but she didn’t want to leave her grandmother and Noah alone with a possible intruder.
She went back to grab her phone and texted Lucas the door code to get in.I’m staying near the baby and Gram. I have a baseball bat.
After texting him, she grabbed the baseball bat from the closet and went to stand guard at the door again. When she reached the hall, she heard the door creak open downstairs. Relief weakened her knees, and she exhaled. Lucas was inside, and he’d be here shortly.
She peered through the darkness toward the stairs and saw his shadowy figure taking the steps two at a time. He came noiselessly down the hall toward her, and she stepped out to meet him.
“He’s still up there?”
“I didn’t hear him go past in the hall.”
Lucas was dressed in running shorts and a tee, probably his sleeping attire. He held his finger to his lips, gun ready in his hand, and crept toward the attic stairs. As he neared the door, it flew open and a figure rushed Lucas. A shot boomed into the quiet night.
Carly gasped, and her limbs felt heavy and frozen. Though she needed to stand guard over her baby, she desperately wanted to go to Lucas and make sure he was all right.
“Turn on the light,” Lucas called.
She reached out and felt along the wall to the switch plate and flipped on the lights. She found Lucas crouched over a figure on the floor. Black covered the figure, from a black ski mask over his head to black shoes.
“Is, um, is he dead?” Her voice quavered, and she cleared her throat.
