Chapter 42
Chapter
Forty-Two
Austin spotted a gravel pull-off ahead and slowed before pulling off the road.
Nora glanced over at him. “What are you doing?”
“Trying not to read a DNA report while driving sixty miles an hour.”
He shifted into Park, and rain peppered the roof as he took the phone from her.
The photograph showed a laboratory report. He enlarged the image and skimmed past the sample numbers, genetic markers, and probability tables until he reached the conclusion.
The tested individuals were excluded from having the stated biological relationship.
Austin read the words twice.
“This says he isn’t related to your family.” Austin handed back the phone.
“I know.”
Christian had let the Loveless family believe their son had returned.
Why had he done that? What was his goal?
Whatever it was, Austin didn’t like it. The guy was an imposter.
Austin shifted toward Nora. “We need to go back.”
“No,” she responded quickly. “Not until we know how to handle this.”
“He’s in the house with your parents. Do I need to remind you that he may have pushed you down the stairs last night?” His gut roiled as he said the words.
He’d lied, and he was dangerous.
“I don’t know that Christian caused me to fall.”
“But you think he might have.”
Nora looked away, which told Austin exactly how much the possibility frightened her.
He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Every instinct told him to turn around, separate Christian from the family, and call Prine. But instincts weren’t always the same thing as evidence. Right now, all they knew was that the boy had assumed another child’s identity.
They didn’t know why.
“This is going to destroy my parents.” Her voice cracked. “They’ve already been destroyed once.”
“Nora, I know it’s going to be hard—really hard—but all of that has to happen eventually.”
“I know. But I just need a few more answers first. I need to understand who he is—or who sent him.”
That last possibility settled heavily inside the SUV.
Christian had known enough to fool people who had loved the real boy. Someone had supplied those details.
Someone had prepared him.
Rain slid down the windshield as Austin and Nora sat in the roadside pull-off.
Austin’s thoughts returned to the second hymnal page Nora had shown him and Luke at the church.
Trust and obey.
For there’s no other way.
At the time, the words had seemed like a command meant for Christian. Now they knew the person receiving that command wasn’t Christian at all.
“You think it’s telling him to do what he was sent here to do,” Austin said.
“Maybe.” Nora shrugged. “Or telling him what will happen if he doesn’t.”
Someone had taught the boy enough about the Loveless family to pass as Christian. That didn’t tell Austin whether he’d agreed to take the real boy’s place—or what might happen if he refused.
“He might be another victim,” Austin suggested. “He might not have chosen any of this.”
“I know.” She rubbed her hand against her jeans.
He looked at her bandaged wrist. “That doesn’t mean your family is safe with him.”
“Mom and Dad are at the house. Wren and Nash are at the cabin.” Nora held his gaze. “If we confront him now, we’ll have to tell my parents with no warning. And if someone sent him, we don’t know how they’ll react when they learn we’ve figured it out.”
Austin hated the thought of leaving the boy with Nora’s parents. He hated the thought of turning around and setting off a confrontation they weren’t prepared for too.
“I’m calling Luke.”
Nora stiffened. “What are you going to tell him?”
“Everything. What the DNA report says, where you found it, and why you think the boy may be dangerous. Then I’ll ask him to put someone near the house until we can verify the results and decide how to handle this.”
Nora’s fingers tightened around her phone. After a moment, she nodded. “Ask him to be discreet. If a cruiser sits in the driveway, Christian will know something’s wrong.”
“I’ll make that clear.”
Luke agreed to arrange a patrol. Austin ended the call and set his phone on the console.
“You believe the report,” Nora said.
“I believe the photograph shows a report saying he isn’t related to your parents.
And I believe he hid it.” Austin looked toward the road ahead.
“If the lab botched it, he’d have had no reason to hide it, because people only hide results they know are true.
If anything tonight suggests your family is in immediate danger, we call Luke and Prine and go straight back. ”
Nora nodded. “Agreed.”
“And don’t confront him alone.”
“I’m not planning to.”
“You weren’t planning to search his room, either.”
“Is that an official FBI observation?”
“It’s a personal one.”
A faint smile touched her mouth, then disappeared. “I believed Jacob. Then I believed that boy was my brother. I promised myself I wouldn’t miss the signs again.”
Austin remembered how she’d hesitated before showing him the photograph of the report. She’d found the evidence and still sounded as if she blamed herself for needing it.
“Jacob lied to you. This boy lied to your whole family.”
“That’s what scares me.” She lifted her gaze to his. “I don’t know if I can trust what my instincts tell me anymore.”
Austin wondered whether she meant only Christian. He wanted to tell her she could trust him. But after what she’d just said, asking her to take his word for it would mean very little.
“You kept asking questions,” he said. “You found the report.”
“And I’m afraid of what else we’ll find.”
“So am I. I don’t know what my dad learned. I wish I’d asked him while I still could.”
Nora’s expression softened. “We’ll ask the Daltons and see what they say.”
His dad had called the Daltons before he died. Their son had disappeared two years before Christian. The family might know something relevant to the investigation.
Austin rested his hand on the console between them. “And afterward, we’ll decide what to do about the boy at your house.”
“You make that sound simple.”
“It isn’t.” He turned his hand palm up. “But we can take the next step.”
Nora placed her fingers in his. For a moment, they sat listening to the rain.
Then Austin released her hand, started the engine, and eased back onto the highway.