Chapter 30
Chapter
Thirty
Austin’s phone rang as the last search teams crossed the church parking lot, and a Knoxville number filled the screen.
He stepped away from Nora and Marlowe before answering. “Donnelly.”
“Mr. Donnelly, this is Dr. Bennett with the Knox County medical examiner’s office. I’m calling about your father.”
Austin’s grip tightened on the phone. Was this the call he’d been waiting for? “You have the autopsy results?”
“Not the full results. Toxicology and several other tests are still pending, but I wanted to speak with you about our preliminary findings.”
A group of volunteers passed carrying muddy walking sticks and empty water bottles. Austin moved farther from the church, stopping beside his SUV.
“What did you find?”
“There’s no obvious cause of death yet,” Dr. Bennett said. “A cardiac event remains possible. Your father had missed two doses of his blood-pressure medication, and the terrain may have placed additional stress on his body.”
“My father didn’t have heart problems.”
“Not that anyone knew of. But there is one finding we’re examining more closely. We found a small laceration beneath the hair at the back of his head. Imaging also showed what may be a nondisplaced skull fracture.”
Austin straightened. “Someone struck him?”
“That’s one possibility. He also could have hit his head when he fell. We need to compare the injury with the scene before drawing any conclusions.”
His jaw tightened. “But you still think it might have been natural.”
“I think we can’t rule it out.”
It wasn’t even close to the certainty Austin wanted.
Austin thanked the doctor, then lowered the phone.
A cardiac event. Missed medication. A steep trail and a bad knee.
Put together in the right order, the facts almost made sense.
His father could have driven to the trailhead and walked into the woods. His heart could have failed before he reached the bottom of the slope.
But Austin didn’t think that was what had happened. Not with the phone call his father had received before he headed into the woods.
Nora followed the other volunteers into the fellowship hall.
Her gaze traveled across the familiar faces filling the room. Pastor Whitfield stood near the front speaking with Luke. Dale Meagerman pulled off his muddy gloves near the door. Pauline carried empty coffee cups toward the kitchen, while Zack Grant handed out bottles of water.
Nora had known most of these people for years. Some for nearly her entire life.
She wanted to believe whoever was behind Preston’s disappearance was a stranger—some evil force that had come into Fog Lake from the outside. But Jacob had sat at her kitchen table. He had prayed with her family and listened to their secrets.
He had shown her how easily danger could wear a familiar face.
Could the person responsible for Preston’s disappearance be in this room right now? Someone Nora knew and trusted? Maybe even someone she liked?
She hated the thought.
She hated even more that she could no longer dismiss it.
Nora glanced around for Austin and realized he hadn’t followed them into the fellowship hall.
She stopped just inside the doorway and looked back. He stood beside his SUV with his phone hanging loosely from one hand. He didn’t move.
Something had happened.
Austin didn’t look up as she approached. Exhaustion had settled into the lines around his mouth.
She stopped beside him without touching him. “Who was that?”
“The medical examiner.” Austin slipped the phone into his pocket.
He told her the update then rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. His eyes looked dull—like he was tired and grief-stricken.
He was probably both.
“I don’t know whether I’m seeing connections or making them up,” he murmured.
She understood that fear more than he realized. Jacob had left her questioning every instinct she possessed. She hated that she’d let the man have that kind of power over her.
“Maybe both,” she said. “But that doesn’t make all the connections wrong.”
Austin looked at her again.
Nora held his gaze. “I don’t know what killed your father. But I don’t believe everything surrounding his death was natural.”
Something shifted in Austin’s expression—something close to gratitude.
He studied her expression before saying, “I appreciate that.”
“I’m just telling the truth.”
One corner of his mouth moved, though the expression disappeared almost immediately. “I’m afraid grief is making me see things.”
“Grief probably is making you see some things differently.” Nora moved closer and rested her hand on his arm. “That doesn’t mean you’re wrong.”
He glanced at her hand before meeting her eyes.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then the fellowship hall door opened behind them, spilling light across the pavement as a volunteer left. Nora lowered her hand but remained beside him.
Tomorrow, they’d search for Preston again. Tonight, Austin would return to a motel room knowing his father had died alone in the woods.
She couldn’t change either of those situations.
But she could make sure Austin didn’t face his grief alone.