Footprints were scattered about like fallen leaves. She looked down into the ravine, and once more her lungs filled with fear. A body, blackened and motionless lay splayed out in the bushes.

After escaping the horrors of her old life, Detective Megan Carpenter vowed never to let anyone hurt her or those she loves ever again. Joining the small police force in Jefferson County's Port Townsend, she is determined to get every victim of a crime the justice they deserve. Ruth Turner's sister Ida Watson has been missing for over a month. In a secluded farmhouse in the hills above Snow Creek, Megan finds Ida's teenage children alone and frightened. A few days later the blackened body of a woman is discovered in an abandoned pickup truck. To solve the case, Megan must face dark secrets of her own. -- adapted from back cover