She thought she left the murders and his obsession behind. Special Agent Jess Harris has spent more than a decade studying the many faces of evil. But in her determination to stop a heinous serial killer, she messed up, broke the rules, and it cost her everything. Now her career is in need of resuscitation and her love life is dead and buried. Jess jumps at the chance to escape her current reality and to advise on a case that has Birmingham, Alabama's top cops stumped. The trouble is, the case forces Jess to confront all the reasons she put her hometown and her first love, Police Chief Dan Burnett, in her rearview mirror all those years ago. He turned to her in desperation, but that wasn't the whole truth. Dan Burnett will do anything to find the four young women who have gone missing before it's too late to save them - even if it means asking for help from the woman who has spent a decade avoiding him. Until recently he kept up with Jess's career at Quantico. She's the best at what she does and he needs her to help him solve this case. And just maybe, in the process, they can break down that brick wall she has built between them. Maybe they can even be more than friends again. Then a fifth girl goes missing without a break in the case. Jess questions her skill as a profiler and an investigator. Then the unthinkable happens. A startling personal message reveals that the crazed serial killer whose case she blew has followed her to Birmingham, adding a chilling twist to an already desperate situation, and time is swiftly running out.