It's been three years since Shannon Flannery was accused of--and absolved of--her husband's murder. But while that legal nightmare had come to an end, the ones that jolted her from sleep, her heart racing, had not. And lately she felt inexplicably jumpy. If only she could train herself to cope with life the way she trained search and rescue dogs, teaching them to deftly navigate disaster areas, water, blazing buildings. . . . But then the crank calls start coming, and that's just the beginning.

There's a faint smell of smoke Shannon can't place, and her own dog is uncharacteristically edgy. Finally, there's the sinister note left on her porch, skillfully charred, that convinces her once and for all that someone is out there, watching her, waiting.

The police don't believe Shannon when she says someone wants to kill her. But when a child connected to her past disappears, it's clear the girl is bait. Soon, a killer strikes again and again, each victim bringing him closer. To stop him, Shannon is determined to unearth the dangerous, fatal secrets she realizes have been kept from her--even if it means coming face to face with a murderer whose slow burn for vengeance will not be denied . . .