Chapter 23

23

R yan wouldn't have answered the phone if Wayne Evans's name wasn't on the screen. He'd been sound asleep, exhausted from having driven all around the county with another officer to locate a lowlife who'd been seen peddling drugs to a group of kids at the middle school. By the time the teacher had told the principal, who'd called the station, the guy was gone. The next five hours of Ryan's life had been spent interviewing students, cross-checking the man's appearance with other jurisdictions, and then trying to track the guy down.

But they'd done it. The guy was now behind bars.

"Wayne? Or ... Candace, is this you?" She'd been on his mind as he'd drifted to sleep.

"Nee. This is Jay Byler."

Why did he recognize that name? And why was someone else calling from Wayne's phone? "Who?"

"Jay Byler. We met when you came to Burke's about the break-in and the fire."

"Oh, right." He sat up, now fully awake. Something had to be wrong. "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry for waking you up, but it's urgent."

His body tensed. "What's going on, Jay?"

"Well, um, Wayne handed his phone to me. You see, we were all together for a birthday party tonight. It's John Hostetler's fiftieth, you see."

No, he absolutely did not see. "Why are you calling?" His voice was harder now, but he didn't care. He wanted some answers.

"Well, um, it's like this. We were going to call the police station, but figured you might be interested—"

"Jay, what is going on?" he practically yelled.

"Candace and her cousin Bethanne are missing."

Ryan's whole body turned cold. "Tell me what happened." After climbing out of bed, he pulled on the pair of jeans that lay on the floor.

"We had a birthday party for Bethanne's father here at the Hostetlers' place. I was getting ready to leave and started looking for Bethanne but couldn't find her. So I started asking folks if they'd seen her, and eventually we figured out that she was with Candace. When Candace's dad went looking for her car—it was parked out on the road—he found Candace's purse and Bethanne's kapp on the ground." Jay inhaled, clearly trying to keep his composure. Other upset voices spoke in the background.

Ryan felt like someone had knocked the wind out of him. He honestly couldn't breathe. But he had to. He had to keep it together.

Grabbing his keys and his wallet, he slipped his feet into the tennis shoes that he'd kicked off the moment he'd entered his house. "You did the right thing by calling me. Give me the address. I'm going to call the station while I head your way."

"Okay, but every minute is wasting time."

"I hear you, but stay put," he added as he opened the locked cabinet he'd installed in the kitchen that contained his weapon. Finally, he grabbed his badge and attached it to his belt. "Everyone there needs to stay put, okay? I'm getting in my vehicle now. Tell me the address."

A new voice came on the line. "Ryan, this is John, Bethanne's daed. Here's our address."

After grabbing a pen out of the bin on the side of his car door, he found a scrap piece of paper and wrote the address down. "Thank you, sir. I'm going to get off the phone and call the station," he added as he started typing the address in his GPS. "I should be there in ten minutes."

"Ten?"

It was obvious that John needed him there an hour ago. "I promise, ten minutes is doable," he said as firmly as he possibly could. "Understand me? Keep everyone as calm as possible. I am on my way."

Once he'd entered the address into his phone, he called the station while heading for the Hostetlers'. The overnight supervisor answered, and Ryan relayed everything he knew as he sped toward his destination. When he ended that call, he took a deep breath and started praying.

And when he finished, he started praying again.

Two hours later, Ryan was still praying. After speaking with the families and going out to the area where the kapp and purse had been found, more law enforcement professionals had been called in.

He'd put on gloves and inspected the items and bagged them, finding nothing significant on Candace's phone. His stomach dropped a bit as he checked her texts. Most were between Candace and her friends, but there were also many he'd exchanged with her. Though he'd been professional in his correspondence, he hoped that Chief Foster wouldn't have concerns about their communication, especially after the conversation he'd had with him the other day. However, when the chief arrived and also checked her phone, the only thing he'd done was squeeze Ryan's shoulder sympathetically. Clearly, he realized that Ryan's relationship with Candace had become close.

Still, his concerns couldn't be compared to what the families were experiencing. They looked completely beside themselves with worry. Even the presence of Audrey, a good friend of the chief's who was a counselor at the hospital, didn't seem to help much.

Now they were waiting for Bowling Green's K-9 team of two beagles. Chief Foster had suggested Ryan take a few moments, eat some of the offered leftover food from the birthday party, and pull himself together. Ryan wanted to go back out into the woods but had to follow his boss's directions. No good would come of making a mess of any paths the girls and the person who'd abducted them had taken.

It was hard, though. He was sure Candace's stalker was involved, but he had nothing on the guy other than a vague description.

When Jay Byler joined him, he mentally tensed, preparing for the man to let him have it. Ryan wouldn't blame Jay for giving him a hard time either. He had been supposed to take care of Candace. Watch her. Be a decent cop and do his job.

Instead, the worst had happened, and he wasn't even good enough to lead the search for the women.

Pushing aside his own feelings, he stood up. "The trackers should be here within the hour."

Jay looked weary but not angry. Maybe more resigned than anything?

He gestured for Ryan to sit back down. "I know they're on their way. Chief Foster told me." Pulling over a chair next to him, he said, "I came over to see if you need anything."

"Me?" He didn't even try to hide his surprise. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine, Jay."

"You sure about that? Because judging by the way you look, you don't seem fine at all. Truly, you look like you've been through the wringer."

"I've been through no more than you. I know you're worried about Bethanne."

"Of course. I can't help but keep thinking about her—and Candace—being scared and hurt."

"I know, and I'm sorry."

Jay shook his head. "I know you're a policeman and all, but you canna read minds. Plus, you weren't even here. Them missing isn't your fault. I was here. I should've looked out for Bethanne and Candace. I should've."

"Don't. You can't take responsibility for the girls getting abducted. It's obvious that whoever was waiting for them suspected that Candace might walk to the car by herself. It's not your fault that she did, and that Bethanne was with her."

Jay stared at him intently. "Do you hear yourself?"

He hung his head. "I do. My situation is different, though. I knew someone was watching Candace."

"That's a heavy burden. Maybe too heavy, yes?" When Ryan didn't answer, Jay sighed. "I ... well, I just wanted to tell ya that no one here is blaming you."

"I appreciate that, but protecting Candace was my responsibility." At least, that's where his heart was. He wanted to protect her and keep her safe.

"Forgive me, but you weren't hired as a bodyguard, were ya? I thought it was more of an escort so a young woman like Candace wouldn't be traveling the backroads of our county alone all the time."

"You're right, but I did know about the stalker. I could never find enough information about him to make a difference."

"Hopefully the Lord will see us through from here on out."

"I've been praying too." The problem, unfortunately, was that he didn't know if his prayers were going to be enough to save the girls. The Lord had placed him near Candace and given him the skills to do detective work and solve crimes. In this case, he'd failed in every regard.

Walking a few feet away, he murmured, "Lord, I know I've been weak and unworthy, but please help me. I surely need You right now."

Then, taking a deep breath, he turned. No matter what, he was going to push forward. He wasn't going to give up.