Page 79 of Unforgotten

And who knew how much time they had before Scott returned.

She took a deep breath. “Have a seat, Bethanne, I’m going to find it.”

“Candace—”

“We can do this. I know we can. My eyes are just fine.”

As she fell down to her knees, she hoped and prayed that she was right.God, she whispered silently,Your work with us isn’t done yet. It looks like we’re going to need You a while longer.

Fighting back tears, she started searching the floor. One inch at a time.

26

Staring at his computer screen at the station, Ryan reminded himself that he’d faced seemingly insurmountable tasks before. Each time, it had taken patience, determination, and a willingness to go above and beyond in order to achieve success. He’d been involved in a number of missing person searches during his seven years in law enforcement. He’d volunteered when he’d been at the police academy during an Amber Alert, spent hours on the phone and computer when a couple had gotten lost in a snowstorm in Waterbury, and had even been at his lieutenant’s side when they’d been at the scene of a particularly hairy drug bust.

Each time, he’d worked hard, followed protocol, and been emotionally involved enough to be sweating as each hour passed with little to no results. He’d gotten tears in his eyes when they’d found the couple alive after searching for almost thirty-six hours in a snowstorm.

But none of those situations came close to the emotional turmoil he was currently experiencing. Candace’s disappearance was affecting him physically. He felt nauseous and achy. Honestly, he felt like he was about to jump out of his skin.

He was scared and guilt-ridden and angry at himself, herstalker, and, at times, even Candace. Why had she left the party with just her cousin by her side? Why hadn’t she asked Lott or one of the men there to escort her? Any one of them would have done it in a heartbeat. Hadn’t she learned anything during the last few weeks?

Of course, just as quickly as he’d thought such things, he’d pushed them out of his mind with a huge sense of remorse. She’d been abducted. Whoever had done it was at fault. Not Candace. Not even a little.

More importantly, all this was on him. He’d made a point of acting as if he were her protector. But what kind of protector was he?

“Any luck going through her high school yearbooks?” Chief Foster asked.

Ryan had been scanning the student pictures, hoping to find a teenager who looked anything like Candace’s stalker. It was a last-ditch effort. They’d already asked her friends at the college and even neighbors if they’d spied anyone matching the general description.

“I don’t know,” he muttered. “I’ve marked a couple of the guys, but they’re just vague possibilities. Boys’ bodies can still change after high school.”

The chief nodded. “I grew four inches and put on thirty pounds.”

“I grew two and put on about that same amount, but I had a buddy whose body hardly changed until the summer of his senior year. When we saw him in September, we all just stared.”

“I get it. But I do think, based on the way he’s acted possessive of her on social media, that he’s known Candace for a while.”

“I agree.”

“Deputy Ernst from the Crittenden County Sheriff’s officeis calling teachers. It’s another long shot, but someone in that school had to be aware if a guy was fixating on Candace. Teachers usually see more than students think.”

“That’s a good idea.” Ryan flipped another page. The pictures were of students three grades below Candace. Thinking back to the popular girls at his high school, he remembered one of his buddies saying that a senior girl he was crushing on would never say yes to a sophomore asking her to homecoming. Maybe if Candace had been nice to a junior classman but never gave him a second’s thought when he wasn’t standing in front of her, the kid might have twisted their interactions in his mind.

Liking that idea, he flipped to the pages of clubs and sports teams. Then he came upon sections for each class that were comprised mainly of candid shots submitted by students.

And there he was.

Ryan’s heart seemed to stop as he stared at the image. On the freshman page, a lone student was standing behind a chain-link fence. He was probably a hundred and thirty pounds, maybe five foot seven, and his shoulders looked hunched beneath a hoodie that was probably two sizes too big. An expensive-looking camera hung around his neck. Below longish dark hair, his brooding eyes weren’t looking at the photographer.

On this side of the fence, a group of girls in shorts and tank tops were working out together—maybe warming up before some type of sports practice. One of them was blond, hazel-eyed Candace. She was laughing. Even back then she was striking.

The picture’s caption read “Scott Conway, the runner-up for the Horizons Photography Contest.”

“I’ve got him!”

The entire room went silent as Ryan stood up.

Chief Foster strode toward him. “What did you find?”

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