Page 108 of The Silence Between

“Goddamn faculty meetings,” I muttered, pushing my car faster through a yellow light. The one day I'd religiously silenced my phone, following Principal Rodriguez's new “no interruptions” policy, was the one day Leo had finally reached out for help. The crushing irony wasn't lost on me.

I swerved into a parking spot outside Second Chapter Bookstore, barely remembering to put the car in park before jumping out. The “Closed for Family Emergency” sign in the window made my heart sink further. Eleanor's surprised face appeared when I knocked frantically.

“Ethan? What are you?—“

“Have you seen Leo? Is he here?” The words tumbled out before she could finish.

Her face fell. “No. He called this morning about a court hearing, but I haven't heard from him since. What's happening?”

“I don't know. That's the problem.” I ran my hands through my hair, struggling to control my breathing. “His mother's in the hospital. Critical overdose. There was some kind of emergency custody hearing. He left me voicemails but I was in meetings and now I can't reach him and?—“

“Slow down.” Eleanor's calm voice cut through my spiral. “Have you checked his apartment? The hospital?”

“The apartment first. His neighbor said the kids are at school but Leo never came home. I drove by the courthouse, but the hearing would be over by now. I tried the hospital but they wouldn't tell me anything since I'm not family.”

My phone rang and I nearly dropped it answering. “Leo?”

“It's Damien.” The lawyer's voice was tight with controlled urgency. “Any luck finding him?”

“Nothing. I've tried everywhere I can think of.” I pressed my forehead against the cool glass of the bookstore window, trying to organize my thoughts. “What happened at the courthouse?”

“The judge denied our continuance motion. Townsend and Miguel were setting Leo up—scheduling the hearing at the exact time Gloria was hospitalized. They tried to argue Leo was abandoning his responsibilities by choosing his mother over the custody hearing.”

“Jesus Christ.” Nausea rose in my throat. “What kind of monsters?—“

“The kind who know exactly how to break someone who's been holding everything together for too long,” Damien cut in. “A nurse at the hospital told me Leo left without seeing his mother, right after he got my text about the hearing continuing without him.”

“When? How long ago?”

“Almost two hours now. He's not answering calls from anyone.”

My blood ran cold. Leo disappearing wasn't just out of character—it was unthinkable. For ten years, he'd been the stable center his siblings orbited around. For him to vanish during multiple crises meant something had broken inside him.

“The bridge,” I said suddenly, the realization hitting like a physical blow. “The old railroad bridge.”

“The one that's half demolished? Why would he?—“

But I was already running back to my car, phone pressed to my ear. “It was our place in high school. And a few weeks ago, we talked there late at night. He mentioned...” I couldn't finish the sentence, the memory of Leo tracing his semicolon tattoo while explaining its meaning suddenly too terrifying to voice.

“I'm on my way there now. Call me if you find him first.”

I drove like a man possessed, running a red light and narrowly missing a delivery truck. My hands shook on the steering wheel, prayers I hadn't uttered since childhood tumbling from my lips.

“Please be okay. Please be there. Please, please, please...”

I'd never understood the phrase “my heart stopped” until that moment—the instant when I saw a solitary figure standing beyond the safety railing on what remained of the old railroad bridge, nothing between him and the rushing water below but empty air.

Leo.

I abandoned my car half on the gravel shoulder, keys still in the ignition, and ran. Leo stood about twenty feet over the water. He seemed impossibly far away, and yet close enough that I could see the wind ruffling his dark hair.

He didn't turn when I approached. Didn't seem to register the sound of my footsteps on the concrete. His gaze remained fixed on the dark water below, his body swaying slightly in a way that sent terror shooting through my veins.

I stopped several feet away, suddenly paralyzed with fear that any wrong move might startle him. His eyes had a vacant, distant quality that frightened me more than his precarious position. Leo, who noticed everything, who calculated every risk, who remained perpetually vigilant, seemed completely disconnected from the physical world around him.

“Your siblings are waiting for you,” I said softly, the words coming from somewhere beyond conscious thought.

Something flickered across his face—the first sign he'd registered my presence at all. Not quite recognition, but a momentary return from wherever his mind had retreated.

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