Page 126 of Veil of Silence

It was somewhere he held them until another person arrived to take them elsewhere.

One sandwich had only a few bites missing. The other had been torn into pieces, but almost none of it was gone.

Both boys had been in this room.

And neither had felt safe enough to eat.

The crying came again.

The sound was faint and broken. Definitely a child.

Deputy Harris lifted one hand, warning Nora to stay inside. Then he moved past the gray SUV and followed a narrow opening between the trees. Thick mountain laurel closed behind him as he disappeared down the slope toward the creek.

Nora gripped the door handle without opening it. Every instinct screamed at her to follow. But charging into the woods would only distract Harris and give him one more person to protect. She forced herself to remain still as he vanished into the mist.

For several seconds, she saw nothing.

Then the brush shifted on the opposite side of the SUV, away from where Harris had gone.

A small boy stumbled out of the trees.

Her breath caught.

Was that . . . Preston?

She blinked, and his face came into focus.

It was.

It was Preston.

Mud covered his jeans, and one sleeve of his shirt had torn near the shoulder. His face was pale beneath streaks of dirt, and tears carved clean lines down his cheeks.

But he was alive. He was on his feet.

Relief nearly buckled her.

Nora unlocked the door before she realized what she was doing. If Preston reached the SUV, she could pull him inside and lock it again. She could keep him safe.

She eased the door open and kept her voice low.

“Preston.”

His head jerked toward her.

Recognition flickered across his face, followed by such desperate hope that Nora’s heart twisted. “Miss Nora?”

“It’s me. Come here.” She reached her arms toward him. “Hurry!”

He took one step.

Then another.

Something moved in the brush behind him.

Preston glanced over his shoulder, and the hope vanished from his face.

Before Nora could warn him, a hand shot from the trees and caught the back of his jacket.