Kate Armstrong pays little attention to the news about a fatal holdup in a local bank. Her mind is on Ted's trip to Chicago with a beautiful co-worker. She can't know how soon the crime will affect her.

Kate and her children are just leaving a circus day gala at the shopping mall when they are taken prisoner by two desperate fugitives. Forced to drive all night in the rain, Kate knows that her only use is to provide transportation. Once the desperadoes reach safety, she and the children will be killed. Their absence is noticed only when Ted returns home to an empty house.

While detectives search in vain for a witness or a clue, Kate struggles alone against the horrors of captivity, the constant threat of death. In only a matter of time, her children, and then she, will be eliminated. But she is helpless against the bandits and their guns, their muscle power, and the strange psychological tie that binds a victim to her captor.

This is a story of suspense and detection, of ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances, of a mother confronted with a terrible choice.