Page 85 of Veil of Silence

The Loveless Sisters.

The Daltons.

Roscoe had said the Dalton family’s oldest son disappeared a year or two before Christian. Most people believed the teenager had run away.

Apparently, Austin’s father hadn’t.

He searched for the family.

The website for Dalton Family Ministries appeared near the top of the results.

The photograph on the home page had been taken recently. The parents were older now, and the children standing beside them were adults. They all smiled beneath stage lights with microphones in their hands.

Near the bottom of the page, beneath the family biography, a photograph showed a teenage boy with short brown hair and a serious smile.

HELP US FIND ZANDER

Our son and brother, Zander Dalton, disappeared in 2014 following a church appearance. He was seventeen years old. Our family continues to pray for his safe return. Anyone with information is asked to contact the authorities.

A final line appeared beneath it.

Zander, if you see this, we love you. We miss you. We have never stopped looking.

Something about the words made a knot form in Austin’s throat.

Even with the differences between him and his father, the two of them had still loved each other. His dad knew that, right? He’d known before he died that his son loved him?

Austin’s eyes burned.

This was no time to cry. He had too much work to do.

He searched Zander’s name. A few old articles appeared, most repeating the same basic facts. Seventeen years old. Last seen after a church appearance. Believed to be a runaway.

But Zander’s family had never accepted that explanation.

Neither had Austin’s father.

Returning to the Dalton website, Austin clicked on their upcoming performance schedule. Most of the dates were at venues several hours away. He scanned them anyway, searching for one within reach.

His breath caught when he saw one date in particular.

Tomorrow.

The family was scheduled to sing Sunday evening at a church a little more than an hour from Fog Lake.

The timing couldn’t be any better.

Austin stared at the screen.

Zander had disappeared two years before Christian. Both boys had traveled the Southern Gospel circuit. Both of their families appeared in Roscoe’s old calendars. And shortly before his death, Austin’s father had been asking questions about them.

That couldn’t be dismissed as coincidence.

He set the phone beside his laptop and waited.

After a moment, Austin opened another search window and typed in The Loveless Sisters Homecoming.

The album appeared on several streaming services. Someone had also uploaded the entire project to YouTube, along with several live performances recorded at churches throughout the Southeast.