Early in his career, Gino Cataldi worked a kidnapping case in Philadelphia. By all accounts, it was a success—he brought the girl home alive. But reality told a different story. She had been beaten and raped, and she was scarred for life.

Gino didn't escape unscathed either. He'd been haunted by what happened to Mae Lin for twenty years. Now living in Houston, Gino is called to solve another kidnapping, and it looks as if it may be the same people who did the Philly crime.