Page 138 of Veil of Silence

The passenger door opened, and Shelby darted out. “Preston!”

The boy released Nora’s hand. “Mom!”

He jumped from the ambulance, the blanket sliding from his shoulders. Nora caught it as he ran.

Shelby met him halfway. Her knees hit the mud as she wrapped both arms around her son and pulled him against her.

For several seconds, neither of them said anything.

Shelby pressed her face against Preston’s hair, holding him as if she needed to convince herself he was real. Preston clung to her neck.

“I knew you’d come,” he whispered.

Shelby closed her eyes. “Always.”

The medic gave them a moment before approaching. “We need to take him to the hospital and have him checked over. You can ride with him.”

Shelby nodded without releasing her son. “I’m not leaving him.”

She kept her arm around Preston as they walked to the ambulance, and then she climbed inside with him.

Just before the doors closed, Shelby looked at Nora. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Nora swallowed and nodded.

Only after the ambulance pulled away did she let herself breathe.

Preston was safe. Cross was in custody.

But the vehicle across the creek had escaped. The boy sitting beneath two blankets still had no name Nora knew, and she had no idea what had happened to her actual brother.

They hadn’t reached the end of this.

They’d only discovered how much larger it was.

Chapter

Fifty-Six

The ambulance carrying Preston and Shelby disappeared around the bend, its red lights flashing through the thinning mist.

Nora stood in the muddy clearing and watched until it was gone. Morning had finally broken over the trees, washing the woods in a pale gray light that made the night feel even more unreal.

Her phone vibrated again. Missed calls and messages filled the screen—Mom, Dad, Wren, Marlowe. Nora couldn’t face the questions yet, but she sent a message to the family group.

Everyone is alive and safe. Cross is in custody. I’ll call from the hospital.

She’d barely lowered the phone when Austin stepped beside her. His shoulder brushed hers, then his fingers found her hand.

Nora held on.

Everything between them remained complicated. Only hours ago, she’d told him she no longer knew whether she could trust what she felt.

But when the bridge collapsed, Austin hadn’t hesitated. He’d gone into the flooded creek to save a teenager who’d deceived all of them. He’d been brave and selfless and . . . there was really nothing about the man she didn’t admire.

Later, she’d tell him that.

For now, her gaze went to Imposter Christian again, and her stomach clenched.