Chapter 56
Chapter
Fifty-Six
The ambulance carrying Preston and Shelby disappeared around the bend, its red lights flashing through the thinning mist.
Nora stood in the muddy clearing and watched until it was gone. Morning had finally broken over the trees, washing the woods in a pale gray light that made the night feel even more unreal.
Her phone vibrated again. Missed calls and messages filled the screen—Mom, Dad, Wren, Marlowe. Nora couldn’t face the questions yet, but she sent a message to the family group.
Everyone is alive and safe. Cross is in custody. I’ll call from the hospital.
She’d barely lowered the phone when Austin stepped beside her. His shoulder brushed hers, then his fingers found her hand.
Nora held on.
Everything between them remained complicated. Only hours ago, she’d told him she no longer knew whether she could trust what she felt.
But when the bridge collapsed, Austin hadn’t hesitated. He’d gone into the flooded creek to save a teenager who’d deceived all of them. He’d been brave and selfless and . . . there was really nothing about the man she didn’t admire.
Later, she’d tell him that.
For now, her gaze went to Imposter Christian again, and her stomach clenched.
“I need to talk to him,” Nora said.
Austin glanced at her. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“Yes,” she answered with hesitation.
He kept hold of her hand as they crossed the clearing, releasing it only when they reached the ambulance. The paramedic finished securing the bandage, then stepped away to speak with another medic.
The boy watched Nora approach. His fingers tightened around the blankets, and wariness settled over his face as if he were preparing for whatever she might say.
Nora stopped in front of him. Anger still lived beneath her relief. So did hurt. But she couldn’t forget the sight of him standing between Cross and Preston on the bridge.
“You saved Preston.”
His gaze dropped. “I almost got him killed.”
“But you didn’t. When it mattered, you chose him.”
“I should have done it sooner.”
Nora sat beside him on the ambulance step. Austin remained a few feet away, close enough that she could feel his presence without feeling watched.
Questions crowded her mind. She still didn’t know the boy’s real name, how he had escaped, or why he had allowed her family to believe he was Christian. Where did she even start?
She cleared her throat before saying, “I found the DNA report.”
He didn’t appear surprised. “I know.”
Her pulse stumbled. “You knew I’d been in your room?”
“I knew when I saw you afterward.” He rubbed his thumb along the edge of the blanket. “You looked at me differently.”
Her lip twitched with a frown. “I didn’t want to.”
“You should have.” Shame roughened his voice. “I lied to you.”
The admission didn’t erase what he’d done. His words couldn’t give her parents back the weeks they had spent believing their son had returned. But the person beside her hadn’t created the nightmare that had swallowed her brother.
This boy had been swallowed by it also.
“Why did you come to us?” she asked.
He stared past her toward the creek. Officers were leading Zander toward a waiting cruiser, his wrists cuffed behind his back.
“I escaped.”
“How did you know where to go?” Nora asked.
His fingers tightened around the blankets. “Your brother told me about you. About all of you.”
The ache beneath Nora’s ribs deepened. “So you came looking for us.”
“I didn’t know anywhere else that might be safe.”
“But when my family thought you were Christian, you let them.”
His face tightened. “I just wanted the chance to feel normal and happy for a while. I should have told you all. I was afraid you’d call the police.” His gaze flicked toward Zander. “They have people inside law enforcement. People with badges. I didn’t know who I could trust.”
“So you let my parents believe their son had come home.” Her throat tightened until she could hardly breathe.
“I told myself I’d explain once I knew I hadn’t been followed.” His voice dropped. “Then every day I waited made it harder. You were all so nice. I felt so safe. I . . . I didn’t want to ruin it.”
Her throat tightened. “Where’s your family?”
“I don’t know.” He lowered his gaze. “I can’t remember.”
Her pulse thudded in her ears when she thought about how horrible that would be. “Do you remember your real name?”
“No . . . I was too young.”
The answer left Nora with a different kind of grief. He’d stolen Christian’s name because someone had taken his own long before he was old enough to hold on to it.
“What did they call you?”
“Josiah.” He didn’t look up. “They picked it.”
“Who are they?” Nora asked.
His expression closed. “The people who took me. I called them various names. Father. Brother. Leader.”
Nora and Austin exchanged a look.
“What do you know about Zander?” she finally asked. “I guess he’s included as part of the people you were referring to?”
“He was one of us. Then they sent him to Fog Lake a few months before I escaped.”
Nora remembered the dark figure she’d glimpsed at the edge of the woods behind the barn. She had convinced herself it was only a shadow.
Had Cross been watching their house that night? Watching all of them?
“Do you know why he was sent?” Nora asked.
“He wanted a bigger role. They told him he could prove himself by helping them find new recruits.”
Nora thought of Preston. “Boys?”
His gaze dropped. “They said they were getting close to their goal. But they needed more soldiers first.”
A chill moved across Nora’s skin. “Is that what they called you? Soldiers?”
“Sometimes.” He pulled the blankets tighter around himself. “Soldiers. Servants. Chosen. The name changes depending on what they want us to do.”
Cross had joined Luke’s department three months ago. He had been inserted into the community, complete with a past convincing enough to survive whatever checks Luke’s department had performed.
“Do you know where you were kept?” Austin asked. “Maybe we could find this place with your help.”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t. I’m sorry.”
“Are you sure about that?” Austin asked.
The boy’s gaze snapped to Nora’s. The fear in his eyes was deeper than anything she’d seen on the bridge. “I’m sure.”
Nora wasn’t sure she believed him. But right now wasn’t the time to push. And she and Austin shouldn’t be the ones to do so either. They should leave that for the FBI assigned to the case.
She lowered her voice. “You said my brother told you about us.”
He nodded.
“When did you last see him?” Nausea rose in her gut as she waited for his answer.
He glanced toward Zander. The cruiser door had closed, and two agents stood beside it, but he still leaned closer before answering.
“Before I escaped.”
Nora’s heartbeat seemed to stop. “He’s alive?”
His eyes filled with tears. “Yes. Your brother is alive.”