Yeah, well. I ended up convincing this girl to give me a shot, and we started dating. Long story short, it worked out, and we were together until senior year.

A lump grew in Nickys throat. She had a bad feeling that she knew where this was going.

Then prom night happened, Ken said, and Tianathat was her namewas supposed to meet me there. She was running late and didnt want me to miss out on the limo with our friends.

It was hard to picture Ken Walker being a normal teenager once, but Nicky could see it all. It brought her back to her own days in high school, when shed left everyone she ever knew behind. There were a lot of conflicting emotions. The message from Matt slipped back into her mind, but she swiped it away, listening to Kens story.

Anyway, hours passed at prom, Ken said, and Tianashe never showed up. Ill skip all the in-between details and just tell you that no one ever saw her alive again. The police said it seemed likely she was abducted on her way over to prom, as she was walking there. His face grew serious, and he couldnt meet Nickys eyes. They found her body two weeks later. The guy who did it was caught within a couple of months. He was just some drifter, saw Tiana in her prom dress and thought shed be an easy target because she was alone. He laughed sullenly. Guess he was right.

Nicky's mind was a jumble of thoughts and emotions. Im so sorry, she said. Thats horrible. But now she understood. She understood why this case had such a hold on Ken.

Their stories were different, but in the end, their motivations were the same.

They wanted to save the girls who needed to be saved.

He was quiet for a long time. Nothing I can ever do will bring her back. So I just try to save as many people as I can while I'm still here."

Nicky understood that. At the same time, in her case, Rosie's body had never been found. And so Nicky still held onto that hope that someday, she'd find her.

Still, Nicky couldn't believe Ken had opened up. She could hardly believe that this was the same cold, distant Agent Walker she'd known at the office. He had a compassionate side.

She also knew the way things could get intense during the night. Emotions were high. Maybe it was biological. She remembered her fling with Fernando--it had started off as lust. Nicky had needs, and hookup apps always felt too risky for her--too high of a risk of predators. She and Fernando had worked too closely together on a case. Then Fernando caught feelings for Nicky and she couldn't give him what he wanted. In fact, he became more annoying to her than anything else.