Sara Linton, medical examiner in the small town of Heartsdale, Georgia, is called out to an apparent suicide on the local college campus. The multilated body offers few clues--and the college authorities are eager to avoid a scandal--but for Sara and police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, things don't add up. As Jeffrey pursues the sadistic killer, he discovers that ex-police detective Lena Adams, now a security guard on campus, may be in possession of crucial information. But bruised and angered by her expulsion from the force, Lena seems barely capable of protecting herself, let alone saving the next victim ...