Page 23 of Weight of Guilt

Still, she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Nora stood at the sink. She set the pan down she was washing and turned, dropping her voice low. “Well? What did he say?”

Marlowe rose from the couch and crept closer.

Wren took one more look at Mason riding his bike outside. He should be fine out there. The property was safe, and he rode his bike all the time on the long gravel driveway. Plus, Bo was with him. Not that he was a decent watchdog. If he saw a squirrel, he was pretty much good for nothing.

She watched another moment as Bo trotted dutifully beside Mason’s bike for all of twenty seconds. Then he veered after something in the grass.

Not surprising . . .

She turned back to her sisters and kept her voice soft. “Nash thinks we should document everything. And he thinks we should get a DNA test, sooner rather than later.”

“Where do we even get a DNA test done?” Marlowe asked. “It’s not like you can just walk into the clinic and ask for one. Right?”

“Someone authorized has to make the request,” Nora said. “If we’re trying to prove identity, at least. Otherwise, there are at home tests he could take.”

“So, we ask Christian to take the test,” Wren said. “That sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?”

Nora leaned back against the counter, her arms crossed. “And if Christian won’t do it? If he says no?”

“Then that tells us something too.” Wren hadn’t thought that far ahead, but the words felt true.

Silence fell for a moment.

“Christian still up in his bedroom?” Wren finally asked, even though she thought she knew the answer.

“As far as I know.” Nora glanced toward the ceiling like she could see through it. “I’ve been listening for him.”

Just then, the quiet outside struck her.

She didn’t hear the gravel under small tires. No bell. No humming. No Bo barking.

Those were all normal sounds when Mason rode his bike.

It was probably nothing. But Wren needed to see for herself.

She crossed to the front door and yanked it open, scanning the driveway and the yard.

Mason was nowhere to be seen, however. She didn’t even see Bo.

Panic gripped her.

“Mason?” Her voice came out higher than she meant it to. “Mason, where’d you go?”

He didn’t answer.

She called his name again, louder this time.

But the only response was silence.

Chapter

Eleven

Nash was washing dishes when a sound broke the quiet outside.

Voices. Two or three. Urgency tinged each one.