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“I know you’re worried, but don’t be. I haven’t been a sheriff of a small town all my career. I’ve seen bad situations before.”
    â€œBut none that involved your own family.”
    A distant look flared in his eyes as though a memory surfaced, best left in the past. “I know what I have to do, Madison. I won’t fail Ashley.”
    His professional facade, locked in place, shut down any further discussion about how this was affecting him. Madison drew in a calming breath. “Okay. Then let’s talk business for a moment. I see Eric Carlton on the list of people you interviewed, but nothing was written down under his name. Why?”
    â€œBecause we couldn’t find him. I have two deputies out looking for him right now. He’s the only person in Crystal Springs that has been convicted of a sex crime. He lives outside of town near the lake. One of the teams with a dog from the K-9 unit will be concentrating around his cabin.”
    â€œThen he’s your prime suspect at the moment?” Although she felt out of the loop, she had to remember shewas just one agent and could do only so much. For the past hours she had concentrated on going over what physical evidence they had, then looking at all the logs of the interviews so she could talk with each person and possibly discover something that could help the investigation.
    â€œThe only suspect at the moment unless you count all the people I’ve put away who are now out of prison. Your boss has one of your agents over at Carlton’s cabin waiting for him in case he decides to return home.”
    â€œDo you think he will? Or will he flee?”
    â€œI think he’s long gone. I put an APB out on him and his black Ford truck. Maybe we’ll get lucky and someone will pick him up.”
    â€œHow about any other sex offenders from the surrounding towns or Central City?” He flinched as she asked the question which had to be asked. The thought of a sex offender having Ashley terrified her, so she could imagine how J.T. felt.
    â€œI have Rachel working on that.”
    She studied his thoughtful expression, his creased forehead. “But you don’t think that’s it?”
    He looked long and hard at her. “No. Someone came into my yard and took Ashley, probably through my back gate that leads to the woods and lake. It feels calculated to me.”
    â€œSo you’ll start the search at your back gate?”
    â€œNo, the swing set, although I think the trail will lead to the back gate. Our goal will be twofold. We’ll look for any evidence left behind and for a trail that leads to Ashley’s whereabouts.” His gaze shifted to the window. “Last night before it become totally dark, I checked outthe immediate area by my gate. I didn’t see anything, but the shadows could have hidden something.”
    Madison twisted around and saw the shift in the degree of darkness. “While you’re searching, I’m going to canvass your neighbors again, especially Mrs. Goldsmith. Maybe she’ll remember something about that car she saw pull out of the side street near your house. After that I want to talk with Kim.”
    He squeezed his eyes closed for a few seconds. “She’s not taking this well. She blames herself. I’m hoping Colin can help her. He’s especially good with teens.”
    â€œAre you blaming yourself?”
    He stiffened. “Kinda hard not to. I think someone from my past has decided to make me pay for putting him behind bars. While working in Chicago, I received some threats, usually when the criminals had been convicted and were going to prison. They like to blame the cop who caught them rather than themselves.”
    Her heart broke at the desolate expression on his face. “Is anyone making a list of people you caught who are now out of prison?” In Chicago when she’d jumped at the chance to return to Crystal Springs to