Page 148 of Veil of Silence

The motel room felt emptier than it had a few minutes ago.

Austin stood near the window with his coffee, though he hadn’t taken a sip. “You didn’t have to do this.”

“I know.” She shifted. “I have an update—in case you haven’t heard. Mikey regained consciousness. I ran into Luke, and he told me.”

“I hadn’t heard. Did he say anything?”

“He doesn’t remember much about the attack. But it sounds like the evidence cleared him of any involvement in Preston’s disappearance.”

“Good to know.” He paused before blurting, “Do you think my father’s pursuit was worth the cost?”

She turned fully toward him. “My brother may still be alive because your father refused to give up. So might other boys we don’t know about yet. That doesn’t make losing him fair. But what he did mattered.”

He looked down at the coffee between his hands. “I spent years resenting that case. It always came first, especially after my mother died. Dad kept saying he would be more present once he found Christian, but there was always another lead.”

“And now you’re the one searching.”

“That thought hasn’t escaped me.”

The admission tightened something inside her. Austin had followed his father into the same unanswered questions, and Nora had pulled him even deeper.

“What happens now?” she asked.

“I’m accepting the temporary assignment Prine mentioned. The task force will operate out of Knoxville for at least thirty days. I’ll work the missing-boys investigation, but I’ll be kept separate from the case against Cross for Dad’s murder.”

Relief swept through Nora before she could stop it.

“What about this boy? The fake Christian?” she asked. “I still don’t know what to call him. But either way, what do you think will happen to him? Will they find his family?”

“If someone submitted DNA or there’s enough information to narrow the search, then we’ll make the connection. It may take time.”

“And until then?”

“He’ll remain in protective custody. They’ve found a facility that works with trafficking victims and abducted children.” Austin studied her. “You don’t owe him anything, but I’m sure you could visit if you wanted.”

Nora’s chest ached. “I think I will . . . sometime. I spent ten years wanting my brother back. I’m not going to pretend this boy is Christian, but I can’t forget that someone took this boy from his family too.”

Austin nodded as if the answer didn’t surprise him.

Nora drew in a slow breath. She’d come to help him pack, but that wasn’t the only reason she’d shown up here.

She was tired of letting fear make her choices.

She licked her lips. “There’s something else I need to say.”

Austin’s expression grew guarded. “Okay.”

“On the way to the concert, I told you I couldn’t trust what I felt.”

“I remember.”

The restraint in his voice made Nora wish she could take the words back. But she couldn’t—and perhaps she shouldn’t. They had been true when she’d spoken them.

“I believed Jacob,” she said. “Then I believed that boy was my brother. Finding the DNA report made me question everything I thought I knew.”

Austin set down his coffee. “You had every reason to.”

Nora’s heartbeat climbed. She’d faced a man with a gun and run toward a collapsing bridge, yet saying this frightened her in an entirely different way.