Page 129 of Veil of Silence

His gaze found hers.

For an instant, something moved across his expression—relief, fear or maybe shame. She wasn’t sure.

Then his features emptied.

The same way they had when she’d caught him outside sleepwalking.

Nora straightened beside the open SUV door.

Cross tightened his arm around Preston. The gun remained pressed to the boy’s ribs. “Stay where you are.”

Deputy Harris appeared several yards to Cross’s left, weapon raised. “Drop the gun and let the boy go.”

Cross turned just enough to see him. He repositioned Preston between himself and Harris, leaving the deputy without a clear shot.

Harris shifted behind a tree. “Drop the weapon, Cross.”

Cross’s mouth twisted. “That isn’t my name.”

Nora couldn’t look away from him.

Twelve years separated this man from the seventeen-year-old boy in the Dalton photograph. Time had sharpened his face and erased its boyish softness. But now that she knew what to look for, the resemblance was unmistakable.

The same narrow features.

The same deep-set eyes.

The same slight tilt of his head as he studied the person in front of him.

“Zander,” she said.

Cross’s attention snapped back to her.

The name struck something inside him. His jaw tightened, and something raw flashed across his face before his expression hardened again.

Chapter

Fifty-Three

“Don’t call me that,” Zander barked.

Nora didn’t back down. “You are Zander Dalton.”

“I was Zander Dalton.” His voice carried through the damp woods. “That boy doesn’t exist anymore.”

“He does to your family.”

A muscle jumped in his cheek. “You don’t know anything about my family.”

“I know they never stopped looking for you.”

“And look how much good it did them.”

Beyond the creek, an engine started.

Nora glanced through the trees. Dawn had strengthened while they drove to the farmhouse, spreading a washed-out gray light through the woods. Twenty yards behind Cross, a narrow wooden footbridge spanned the swollen creek. On the opposite bank, parking lights glowed through the fog, revealing a dark SUV waiting on a rutted road.

Someone sat behind the wheel.