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so before dawn. Hopefully the rain will let up by then. That’s what the weather report says.”
    â€œIsn’t it likely if there was a kidnapper, that he took herout that way since none of the neighbors saw anything unusual?” Madison asked Kirk as she trailed after him.
    In the living room away from Kim, J.T. caught Madison’s arm and halted her progress. Another rumble of thunder vibrated the air. Tension whipped down his length. “There’s no if in this. Ashley has been kidnapped.”
    Madison glanced down at his hand on her then back up into his eyes. He instantly dropped his arm away as though touching her had burned him.
    â€œI agree this is most likely a kidnapping, J.T. Until we discover otherwise, our standard procedure is to assume a child is in immediate danger and act accordingly. It’s better to do that rather than think she’s missing or a runaway. We don’t want to miss any clues.”
    She was giving him information he already knew, but he realized it was her way of keeping a rein on his emotions, which could so easily run rampant if he allowed them. “I want to make sure we’re on the same page.”
    She stepped closer and laid her hand on his arm, the touch meant to reassure. Strangely it did. “We are. I promise you we’ll do everything humanly possible to bring your daughter home.”
    Day one, 5:00 a.m.: Ashley missing for ten and a half hours
    Madison scrubbed her hands down her face. Her eyes stung from the sleepless night spent at the sheriff’s office, now the command center for the missing child case. The rest of the FBI agents had arrived right afterthey had moved to the station to set up the new command post away from the victim’s house.
    Just the mere thought of the word victim , in reference to J.T.’s little girl, chilled Madison. She couldn’t even begin to imagine the anguish J.T. and his family were going through, and yet he was in the middle of the investigation as though the child missing was someone else’s. Professional. Staunch.
    She’d tried to get him to back off and let his deputies and the FBI work the case, but he wouldn’t. Since he was the sheriff as well as the parent, he wanted to be in on it every step of the way. There was a part of her that understood his need, and yet she also knew the danger of being so emotionally invested in a case. Ashley wasn’t her child, but she knew the little girl from the summer before. J.T. and his family had made her feel welcome when she had been here with this department working on the murder. Her emotions were involved more than she wished.
    Madison found J.T. standing in front of the time line her boss had constructed on a large dry erase board. At the moment there was little information about Ashley posted. The bleak look in J.T.’s expression spoke of how taxing the situation was for him. But he was going over the information on the board with Matthew Hendricks as though this wasn’t his daughter they were discussing.
    J.T.’s faith was strong like hers. Was that what was holding him together? What a test of his faith! Throughout the past night she’d prayed silently on a number of occasions for Ashley’s safe return. From the distant look that would appear from time to time in J.T.’s eyes, she suspected he had, too.
    Heavenly Father, give us some kind of direction. We’ve got everything set up and ready to go but no leads to speak of. Where do we start? Where do we go from here?
    â€œI made some fresh coffee.” Susan placed a steaming mug in front of Madison. “That’s the least I can do since I returned to the station. There’s no arguing with J.T. when he sets his mind on something. I didn’t want to go home to sleep.”
    â€œA few people needed to get some sleep. I hope you were able to.” Madison put her hands around the warm mug.
    â€œNot much, but I did manage to close my eyes