Page 102 of Veil of Silence

She closed the drawer.

Relief and frustration collided inside her. Maybe he’d told the truth. Maybe the papers had been assessment pages he didn’t want Mom preserving forever. Maybe he had already thrown them away.

Nora turned toward the door.

Then she noticed the mattress wasn’t sitting squarely on the box spring. One corner jutted out farther than the other, as if someone had lifted it and shoved it back into place in a hurry.

She hesitated, then crossed to the bed. Only when she bent closer did she see the thin edge of something white buried deep in the seam.

She froze.

Only a narrow corner showed. Whatever was hidden there appeared thicker than the assessment pages.

Her heart beat harder as she lifted the comforter. She hooked her fingers beneath the mattress and raised it just enough to pull the object free.

A thick white business envelope.

It was addressed to her mother. The return address belonged to the laboratory handling Christian’s DNA test.

Chapter

Forty

For several seconds, Nora couldn’t move.

They’d been waiting for these results.

They had been told the testing could take several weeks. Nora had checked the mail every day and tried not to think about the fact that nothing had arrived.

But the envelope had arrived.

Christian had gotten to it first and hidden it.

Nora lowered herself onto the edge of the bed. Her bruised ribs tightened, but she barely noticed.

The flap had already been torn open.

She removed the report with trembling fingers.

Several pages of technical information came first. Sample numbers. Dates. Genetic markers she didn’t understand.

Nora turned to the final page.

Her eyes found the results.

She read them.

Then she read them again.

The tested individuals are excluded from having the stated biological relationship.

The language was clinical, but its meaning was clear.

The boy they believed was Christian wasn’t her parents’ son.

A roaring sound filled Nora’s ears.

She stared at the report until the letters blurred.