Page 114 of Veil of Silence

Mom turned at the sound of her footsteps. Relief flashed across her face followed so quickly by fear that Nora’s stomach tightened.

“Where’s Christian?” Nora rushed.

“I’m trying to find him.” Mom lowered the phone. “Your father’s checking behind the barn.”

Austin caught up with Nora. “What happened?”

“A deputy stopped by. He said he wanted to follow up on Christian. Then he asked about where he’d walked the other night.” Mom glanced toward the trees. “Christian said he could show him. I thought they were staying near the barn.”

“How long ago?” Austin asked.

“About fifteen minutes. I went outside when they didn’t come back, but I couldn’t see them. Then I noticed the cruiser was gone.”

Mom’s voice shook on the last word.

“What deputy?” Austin asked.

“Cross. Deputy Cross.”

Nora stared at the moving flashlight, her thoughts racing.

Cross had helped search for Preston. If Christian had wandered into the woods again, maybe Cross had gone after him. But that didn’t explain why his cruiser was gone.

A bad feeling simmered in her gut.

Austin pulled out his phone and called the sheriff. “Luke, I’m at Nora’s house. Cross stopped by and walked with Christian toward the barn. Neither of them came back, and Cross’s cruiser is gone.”

“I told him to drive past the property,” Luke said. “Nothing more.”

“He told the family he was following up on Christian’s night wandering.”

“He wasn’t authorized to do that.” Luke’s voice sharpened. “Hold on a minute. I’m trying him now.”

While Austin remained on the line, Nora’s dad emerged from behind the barn. His flashlight hung at his side.

“He’s not behind the barn or on the old trail,” he told Nora. “Did that deputy put Christian in his cruiser and take him somewhere? Why wouldn’t he tell us?”

Those were Austin’s thoughts exactly.

Luke returned to the call. “Cross isn’t answering his radio or his cell. I’m sending units now.”

Austin remembered the photograph in Glen Dalton’s folder.

Zander at seventeen. Dark hair. A narrow face.

Eyes that had bothered Austin because he’d seen them somewhere before.

He ended the call and opened the photographs he’d taken after the concert. When Zander’s missing person flyer filled the screen, Austin enlarged the boy’s face.

Nora stepped beside him. “What is it?”

Austin turned the phone toward her. “Tell me who he reminds you of.”

She studied the photograph. Her gaze went to Zander’s eyes, then his uneven brows.

Her breath caught before she whispered, “Cross.”

Twelve years had changed the shape of Zander’s face. His hair was shorter now, his features harder. But there were definitely similarities.