Twenty years ago, young Andy Boone shared an absorbing and unforgettable experience with his fifth-grade sweetheart. Now, laden with sadness and guilt, he searches in vain for the young woman and her family. The search begins when he crashes his car into a prairie fence in East Texas one rainy April morning in 1992. Little does he know that this chance blunder is destined to have repercussions far beyond the deep scratches on the rear of his car. Inexplicably, he will be drawn back to this spot again and again. Andy's search is complicated by the seeming anonymity of the woman he seeks. It is also burdened by distractions arising from his career and his entanglement with the FBI. They regard him as suspect because he's snooping around neighborhoods asking questions. Still, he pushes on, but he is growing weary and afraid. Just the plain mystery of it all-the inexplicable absence of even the tiniest clue as to her whereabouts-threatens to strangle his dedication. Even more crippling is the beating he takes from his own internal confusion: guilt, sad memories, and difficult questions. Now, a frightening picture is emerging-something unthinkable has happened to the family he seeks.