Page 141 of Veil of Silence

He glanced toward Zander. The cruiser door had closed, and two agents stood beside it, but he still leaned closer before answering.

“Before I escaped.”

Nora’s heartbeat seemed to stop. “He’s alive?”

His eyes filled with tears. “Yes. Your brother is alive.”

Chapter

Fifty-Seven

Morning light filled the hospital corridor by the time Nora’s family arrived.

She’d been biding her time as she waited for doctors to examine the boy. Pastor Whitfield had stopped by. Now he was with Shelby. She was grateful Shelby had someone with her now.

She rose from the plastic chair outside the consultation room as Mom hurried toward her with Dad, Wren, and Marlowe close behind. Mason was still with his father.

Mom reached Nora first and pulled her into a careful embrace. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m okay.”

Austin made a quiet sound behind her.

Nora glanced back at him. The borrowed sweats he’d changed into outside the farmhouse clung to his damp frame, and a scrape darkened one side of his jaw.

Wren looked past Nora toward the examination rooms. “Where is he?”

“He’s being treated for hypothermia and the injuries he got on the bridge.”

“What did he say?” Marlowe rushed. “Anything about Christian? He had to know him, right? He knew too much about our brother for the two of them to have been strangers.”

Nora swallowed hard before saying, “We should go somewhere private.”

They moved into the small consultation room. Austin remained just inside the door while Mom and Dad sat together on the narrow couch. Wren took one of the chairs, but Marlowe stayed on her feet.

Nora closed the door.

“The boy said he escaped from the people who took him,” Nora said. “He came to us because he didn’t know anywhere else he might be safe.”

Mom pressed a hand to her mouth.

“Is Christian . . . ?” Wren’s voice trailed off.

“He said Christian was alive when he escaped.” Nora hated having to temper the first hope they had received in a decade. “We don’t know exactly when he last saw him, and we haven’t verified anything.”

Tears spilled down Wren’s cheeks.

Dad bowed his head, his elbows resting on his knees. One hand reached blindly for Mom’s, and she caught it.

Marlowe’s gaze hardened. “Why did he deceive us? Why did he let us believe he was Christian?”

Nora understood her sister’s anger. Out of all the sisters, Marlowe had believed he was Christian the most. “He was afraid. The people who took them had someone inside law enforcement.”

“So he’s another missing child,” Wren whispered.

“That’s what it looks like,” Nora said. “He lied to us. He allowed us to believe he was Christian, and we still don’t know everything he may have done while he was living with us. But he was a victim too. And he saved Preston’s life.”

A knock sounded before Agent Prine entered. Fatigue showed around her eyes, but her posture remained straight and controlled.