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He shook his head, his eyes grim. “He was in your closet, Carly. There was no good reason for him to be up there. We aren’t working on anything on the other floors yet. Someone knifed him up there.”
She gasped and took a step back. Another intruder?
Eighteen
Seeing flashing red lights on his own street wasn’t something Lucas would ever get used to—and this was the second time in a week it had happened. The ambulance had parked in the driveway, and two police cars were in the yard. He spotted Ryan with his construction workers talking to an officer by the porch.
Where were Carly and Noah? Lucas got out and ran toward the porch. One of the other officers spotted him and motioned him over. Lucas reluctantly switched directions and went to speak to him.
“What do we have?” Lucas knew the basics. A worker had been found bludgeoned and stabbed in the house.
“Vic is Charlie Kostin. He works for your brother.”
“What’s his condition?”
“Team is working on him, but it doesn’t look good. Knife hit his liver. They’re trying to stabilize him before transport.”
“Who found him?”
“Your brother. He was in the closet of Carly’s bedroom.”
“What was he doing there?”
The officer shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Where’s Carly? And is everyone okay?”
“She’s in the kitchen. No one else is injured.”
Lucas thanked him and started for the porch again when his brother called his name. He turned to find Ryan coming his way. His wide eyes and pinched mouth showed his worry.
“Do you know what happened here?” Lucas asked him. “What was Kostin doing upstairs in Carly’s room?”
“We were on lunch break. No one should have been inside. I didn’t notice him missing until we started working. His truck was still here, so I started to search for him and heard a moan. He’s in bad shape.”
Lucas winced at the thought of Carly being faced with something like that. “How long has he worked for you?”
“He’s a new hire. Started this morning.”
Kostin. “Russian?”
“Maybe Russian heritage. He’s American, though. He claimed to be born in New York and worked construction there for some years. Recently moved here. He had several job offers, but I got him.”
He could have been searching for the egg.
Lucas didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but it made sense. Maybe Carly would have noticed something she’d only tell him. “I’m going to go find Carly.”
“She’s on the back deck with Mary and Noah. Her sisters aren’t here.”
Lucas nodded and headed around the side of the house to the backyard. Carly and Mary sat on a double swing with an overhead canopy. Noah slept on Mary’s shoulder.
Carly spotted him, and the anxiety in her face intensified. She stood and rushed toward him. “I was hoping you’d come. I called and left a message on your phone.” She made a moveas if to fall against his chest, then caught herself and clenched her hands in front of her. Her slim shoulders trembled, and she tightened the ponytail on her head.
He stifled the inclination to embrace her. “Vince told me there’d been an incident here, so I came right away. Did you see anything?”
She shook her head. “I tried to stay out of the way of the workers. I went to my room to touch up my hair because Opal is coming. I heard some noises and got spooked. If I’d looked around, maybe he wouldn’t be in such bad shape.”
“Or maybe you would have been attacked instead.”
