Page 98 of Veil of Silence

The girls never understood how useful they were.

They weren’t supposed to.

The boys were the ones who were chosen.

Christian was different from all the others. His disappearance wasn’t chance, and it wasn’t merely an opportunity created by the family’s travels.

Christian was the reason the Loveless family mattered in the first place.

Nora looks away from the window and ducks into her car, probably to grab something.

For years, I believed the sisters would remain exactly what they had always been—an unfortunate part of a necessary decision. I never wanted to hurt them.

I still don’t.

But Nora watches. She listens. She remembers. Now she has Austin Donnelly helping her pull at threads that were supposed to remain buried.

Jeffrey Donnelly got too close.

Nora Loveless is getting closer.

Across the room, someone calls my name. I lift one hand to show I heard, then carry the cups toward the kitchen.

Homecoming is less than three weeks away. The Renshaws are coming, and too much has already been set in motion to stop now.

I don’t want Nora to force me into making another difficult choice.

But wanting has never mattered as much as obedience.

Chapter

Thirty-Nine

The rain had stopped when Nora finally pulled into the driveway.

Clouds still hung low over the mountains, and water dripped from the trees onto the roof of her car. She turned off the engine but didn’t immediately get out.

She’d called home before leaving the church. Mom had answered and assured her that everyone was fine. Christian was there. Dad was there. Nothing had happened.

Still, Nora had driven faster than she should have.

The underlined lyrics had replayed in her mind throughout the drive home.

They sounded like a warning.

Or an order.

She’d shown Austin and Luke when they returned from the search. Luke had sealed the envelope and hymnal page in an evidence bag, but not before Nora photographed the underlined lyrics.

She’d also told Austin more about her fall last night. Based on the look on his face, he wasn’t happy about either update. She’d insisted she’d be fine and that she’d go straight home. But just as he’d done before, he’d followed her to make sure she got here okay. When she’d pulled into the driveway, he’d continued on to his motel.

As she climbed out, her ribs protested and her wrist throbbed beneath the elastic bandage.

Voices drifted from the other side of the barn.

Nora stopped.

At first, she couldn’t make out the conversation. Then she heard her mother laugh.