In her seven years as a hard-driven assistant state's attourney in Annapolis, Maryland, Jan Garret has been told more than once that she needs to distance herself from her cases. Yet each time she puts a lowlife behind bars, she considers it one more blow struck at the vicious rapist who murdered her adored older sister Frannie. So when a case bearing striking similiarities to Frannie's lands on her desk, Jan is understandably intrigued. She's also unexpectedly and urgently attracted to the new detective in town. Like Jan, Detective Max Hale is driven by a need to avenge a loved one's death. The only person willing to even listen to Jan's suspicions, he finds he finds himself entering her private nightmare...one that takes a terrifying turn when Jan realizes the man who confessed to her sister's rape couldn't have been guilty. Even as Max awakens Jan's long-denied desires, she knows that nothing could possibly matter more to her than finding out the truth...no matter what the cost to her career -- or her life.