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Lucas read the entry, then shut the diary and handed it back. “No idea who adopted the babies? And would you mind copying the pages that mention the twins and the egg?”
“I’ll make a copy before you leave.” Jessie rose. “I’m not sure how you even figured out Granny’s name. You’ve got more information than we do about that.”
No help there, but it confirmed they were on the right track. Lucas stood. “You’ve been very helpful.” He handed her a card. “If you find out anything else, please call me.”
Carly would be very interested to hear about the pendant. And to read those pages.
***
The chaos in the house drove Carly to the backyard, where the aroma of the sea breeze blew away the stench of dust and old wood. She unfolded Noah’s play yard and placed him inside. He stared at the moss blowing from the limbs of the live oak tree and kicked his feet. “Time for some exercise, little man.”
He was growing so fast. It pained her that he would neverknow his father. Eric wouldn’t even be a dim memory. There would be no pictures of him holding his son as a baby. All of that had been erased by his death.
She and Lucas hadn’t talked about Eric’s death in several days. The murder of Anna Martin and the break-in here had pushed away that concern, but she was more and more convinced the same man had targeted her husband and deprived Noah of a father.
She swiped on her Kindle, and it opened to the middle ofAnna Karenina. Reading the Russian novel had fired her imagination, and she was beginning to get a better idea of the book she wanted to write. Her phone rang, and she winced when she saw Opal’s picture on the screen. Her mother-in-law called every two weeks or so with a request to see Noah, and Carly had to sit through a visit, enduring veiled and constant criticism. She forced a smile before she answered the phone. “Good morning, Opal.”
“I’m going to be in Beaufort today and wondered if I could stop by and see the baby.” Opal’s usual tone was saccharine sweet with claws masked. Today it was more like the bite of a lemon.
“We’ll be around, but the place is chaotic since the renovation on Gram’s house started. We can sit out in the yard to get away from it, though.”
“Renovation? You said nothing about that the last time I was there.”
“It was a decision Gram hadn’t mentioned to me until it was nearly ready to start.”
“I see. Well, I’ll see you in about an hour.”
“Okay, see you then.”
A movement caught her eye, and she smiled when she saw Gram exit the back door and head her way. The tinkle of Gram’s bracelets announced her arrival. “There you are.” Gram corralled her billowing red skirt and bent over the play yard to smile at Noah. “Hello, little man. Are you glad to see your grammy?”
Noah kicked and cooed at the attention.
“You can get him out if you want. I think he’s glad to see you,” Carly said.
Gram lifted him out and settled on the grass with the baby on her lap. He promptly tried to grab her bracelet but couldn’t make his fingers work well enough, so she put a bangle in his palm. “The racket inside is enough to make anyone crazy. They are breaking for lunch now, though.”
“Would you mind watching him a minute? I want to do something with my hair. Opal is coming.”
Gram wrinkled her nose. “Mercy, that’s all we need today.” She let Noah clench her finger. “I’ll watch the little man.”
The hammering and commotion had ceased, and Carly was glad for the reprieve when she stepped inside and went through the debris to the stairs.
She moved to a mirror and put her hair in a ponytail before turning to the door. A slight sound caught her attention. The shifting or shuffling on the floor came again, but she couldn’t make out the direction of the noise. And there shouldn’t be anyone here to be moving around. Her sisters hadn’t come back from their run to urgent care, and Isabelle had gone to the library, where she would jump on the stream for class. The workers were on lunch break, so she had to be the only one in here.
Goose bumps rippled down her back, and she poked her head out of the door. “Anyone there?” Everything in her wanted to rush for the stairs and get out of here, but she told herself she was overreacting.
She whirled and looked around her bedroom. The closet door stood open slightly, and she knew she’d closed it after getting dressed this morning. She backed away and lifted her phone to call Lucas as she ran down the steps.
It was probably just the house shifting during the reno. She rejoined her grandmother and Noah, and Gram frowned. “Carly Ann, your expression looks like you ate a pickle.”
Carly forced a smile. “Just weird noises in the house.”
A shout for help came from the house, and Carly turned and ran back the way she’d come. She rushed inside to find Ryan on the phone calling for an ambulance. “What’s happened?” she asked when he ended the call.
“One of my workers has been stabbed.”
“A construction accident?”
