Page 113 of Veil of Silence

Austin examined the page. “How often did he appear on the same routes?”

“More than once.”

Glen turned several pages before stopping at an old missing person flyer.

Zander Dalton stared from the center of it.

The photograph was clearer than the grainy images Austin had found online. Zander had been seventeen, with short brown hair, a narrow face, and an expression too serious for a school portrait.

Something about him tugged at Austin’s memory.

The feeling was faint, gone almost as soon as it appeared.

He’d spent part of the previous night searching Zander’s name and studying old photographs. That had to explain it.

“Can I photograph these?” Austin asked.

“Whatever you need.” Glen’s shoulders sagged. “I’ve been praying for a long time that someone besides me would finally see enough of a pattern to investigate.”

Austin photographed the clippings, the notes Glen had made, and the list of ministries that appeared more than once.

Last, he photographed Zander’s missing person flyer.

His attention lingered on the boy’s face.

That strange sense of familiarity returned, stronger this time, but Austin still couldn’t place it.

He slipped his phone into his pocket and told himself he was remembering the photographs he’d seen online.

But as Glen closed the folder, Austin found himself looking at Zander one more time.

Chapter

Forty-Five

They discussed the situation as they drove home. When they reached the driveway, Nora had decided what to do.

She would tell her parents about the DNA results tonight. Not in front of the boy they believed was Christian. She would get Mom and Dad alone, show them the photograph of the report, and explain that Austin wanted it verified. Then they would call Special Agent Prine and decide how to approach the situation.

Austin parked behind Dad’s truck. Nora reached for the door handle, but Austin touched her arm before she got out.

“We do this carefully,” he reminded her. “Your parents first, then Prine.”

“I remember.”

His hand remained on her arm another second before he released her. Warmth lingered where he’d touched her. She’d been careful not to lean too hard on him, and it unsettled her to realize she’d wanted to.

A flash of light behind the barn caught her eye.

Nora leaned toward the windshield. It almost looked like . . . a flashlight.

The beam swept across the trees, disappeared, then appeared again farther down the slope.

Christian had walked toward those woods in his sleep two nights ago. Had he gone outside again?

The back door on the house flew open. Mom rushed onto the porch with her phone pressed to her ear.

Nora was out of the SUV before Austin could say anything. Pain pulled along her ribs as she hurried across the yard.