Page 87 of Veil of Silence

She waited for another sound, hoping Dad had knocked something from the coffee table or Mom had gotten up for water.

Then a floorboard creaked in the hallway.

Christian.

The thought pulled her fully awake.

He’d walked out of the house the previous night without knowing what he was doing. If Nora ignored the noise and he made it downstairs again, he might reach the woods before anyone realized he was gone. Then her family would be thrown into turmoil again.

She slipped from the bed and opened her door.

The hallway was dark except for a faint glow rising from the living room below. Dad must have left a lamp on. The light barely reached the second floor, leaving most of the hallway in shadow.

Christian’s door stood a few feet away. From where she stood, it appeared to still be closed.

She stepped into the hallway. The floor felt cold beneath her bare feet, and her tired eyes struggled to separate the shadows from the walls.

Another sound came from somewhere in the house. A scrape this time, followed by something that might have been a footstep.

Nora moved toward the staircase.

At the top, she rested one hand on the railing and looked down. The lamp near the couch cast a weak circle of light across the living room floor. She could see the edge of the quilt covering Dad, but nothing else appeared out of place.

Maybe he’d shifted in his sleep.

Nora leaned forward, trying to see the bottom of the stairs. Her weight shifted over the top step, and she tightened her hold on the railing.

As she did, a floorboard creaked behind her.

She started to turn.

Before she could, something pressed between her shoulder blades.

It wasn’t hard. Barely more than a nudge.

But Nora was already off balance.

Her hand slipped from the railing, and the top step disappeared beneath her foot.

For one suspended second, she reached for something that wasn’t there.

Then her balance gave way, and she pitched forward into the stairwell.

Chapter

Thirty-Four

Nora’s hip struck the first step.

Her shoulder hit the wall, and her right hand shot out for the railing. Her fingers caught it for half a second before slipping free.

Then she was tumbling.

Pain shot up her arm as her wrist folded beneath her. Another step caught her ribs. She tried to stop herself, but the staircase seemed to keep coming until she landed hard on the floor at the bottom.

For a moment, Nora couldn’t breathe.

She lay on her side with one arm curled against her chest, waiting for her lungs to work again. Light shifted across the room as Dad threw off the quilt and jumped from the couch.