Page 77 of Veil of Silence

“Am I entirely wrong?”

She considered the question before sighing. “Unfortunately, no, you’re not.”

The fellowship hall at the church was already overflowing with volunteers when Nora and Austin arrived.

Cars covered the church lot and lined both shoulders of the road. Four-wheelers waited in the grass beside pickup trucks loaded with coolers and cases of bottled water. Inside, conversations overlapped with chairs scraping against the floor. The room smelled like coffee, damp jackets, and sausage biscuits.

Nora had expected a crowd. She hadn’t expected nearly three hundred people.

But she wasn’t surprised either. Fog Lake residents knew how to show up for one another when it mattered.

Sign-up sheets covered tables near the entrance. Orange flagging tape had been bundled beside stacks of maps, and handwritten signs directed volunteers toward their search assignments.

Everywhere Nora looked, she recognized someone. People from church. Former patients. Teachers she’d had in school. Even Zack was here.

Men who had searched these same woods ten years ago while her family waited for news about Christian.

The sight pressed against her chest.

Austin stopped beside her and scanned the room. His gaze moved over the exits, the volunteers, and the large county map taped to the far wall. Special Agent Prine stood beside it with Luke and Boone Wilder. Between owning the camp store and working as a wilderness guide, Luke’s brother knew the surrounding mountains better than almost anyone.

Nearby, Fire Chief Ryan Philips passed out radios while two firefighters loaded emergency supplies into backpacks.

“You okay?” Austin asked.

Nora realized she’d stopped walking. “I’m fine.”

His expression said he didn’t believe her, but he didn’t push.

Marlowe appeared through the crowd carrying two orange vests. “There you are. I was beginning to think you’d changed your minds.”

“We were three minutes behind you.” Nora cast her a playfully exasperated look.

“A lot can happen in three minutes.” With a grin, Marlowe handed her a vest, then held the other toward Austin. “Wendell put us in Grid Seven.”

Nora pulled the vest over her sweater. “Where’s Wren?”

“Getting water with Nash.” Marlowe nodded toward the refreshment table.

A man carrying a clipboard intercepted them before they could move farther into the room.

“There you girls are.” Wendell Weathers glanced at Austin before looking back at Nora. “I want you all to be careful out there.”

“We will be,” Nora said.

Wendell marked something on his clipboard. “Your family holding up?”

“As well as we can.”

“We’re praying for all of you.” He gave her arm a quick squeeze before someone called his name from the registration table. Wendell lifted his clipboard in acknowledgment and stepped away.

Austin watched him leave. “Friend of yours?”

“Mason’s grandfather.” Nora watched Wendell disappear into the crowd. “He owns a construction company and runs the church’s home-repair ministry. I’ve called him more times than I can count when one of my patients needed a wheelchair ramp or safety rails they couldn’t afford. Wendell always found a way to help.”

“So he’s a friend.”

Nora considered the word then nodded. “Yes. I suppose he is. I’ve known him most of my life. Brother Wendell runs half the church whether anyone officially asks him to or not.”