In the back of my mind, I always thought I’d fail. That I’d run back to Painters Mill with my tail between my legs. But I didn’t. Mamm traveled to Columbus when I graduated from the Police Academy. Sadly, I never saw my datt again. He died of a stroke six months later. I finally returned to Painters Mill to be with Mamm after she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer. She’d forgone conventional medical treatment, opting instead for Amish folk remedies. Those remedies did little to help, of course, and she suffered a terrible end. Even after all these years, sometimes those old regrets sneak up on me.

In terms of Amish youth, I was an anomaly. But it’s my only perspective and I can’t help but compare my life with the lives of the missing teenagers. Do we share a common thread?

The only teen in the group I know personally is Sadie Miller. Pretty, troubled Sadie. The last time I saw her, she’d been dressed in painted-on jeans and a revealing tank top. Wearing too much makeup and smoking cigarettes. Cursing because she’d discovered the power of shock value. Sadie and her love of fabric and art and all of her big plans for the future. Sadie, the rule breaker.

The rule breaker.

Something clicks in my brain.

“Shit,” I say aloud. “That’s it.”

I spot an exit for a rest area and swerve right. Then I’m down the ramp and parking in front of a picnic area. For an instant, I sit there, gripping the wheel, my thoughts reeling, and all I can think is, Why didn’t I see this until now?

Getting out of the Explorer, I start toward the nearest picnic table, unclipping my phone as I go. I hit speed dial and begin to pace. One ring. Two rings. In the back of my mind, I’m already wondering if Tomasetti is avoiding me. Relief swamps me when he picks up.

“I found the connection,” I say without preamble. “The missing teenagers were breaking the rules. They were misbehaving. Acting out.”

“Run with it,” he says, and I do.

“Someone’s targeting troubled Amish teens. Bonnie Fisher was sexually active. She’d had multiple partners. She was pregnant out of wedlock and contemplating an abortion. Annie King had an English boyfriend, a bad boy, and she was known to run with a tough crowd. She was having doubts about her faith and was thinking about leaving the Amish way of life.”

The words tumble from my mouth in a rush. “Sadie Miller is prideful and individualistic. She wears makeup and tight jeans. She smokes cigarettes, drinks beer, hangs out with the English. She values all the things she shouldn’t, like her fabric art. She gets into fights, for Chrissake. She was entertaining thoughts of leaving the Amish way.”