Nikki Sterces is a high school English teacher with a past. That past returns with a vengeance reeking havoc on her quiet life. Threatening phone calls are only the beginning. Shortly after one of these calls, her high school sweetheart, now Detective Joseph Fitzpatrick, knocks on her door and informs her they believe her uncle has been murdered. Can this be the answer to her prayers? Will her fears all disappear with the death of her lecherous uncle? It doesn't take long to realize the answer to that question is no.

Joe Fitzpatrick's adopted son fears losing his father and being alone. This motivates Joe to return to Pinecrest, Colorado where the crime rate isn't half what it was in Chicago. At least, it wasn't when he grew up there. Now, he's investigating a murder that brings him face to face with the love of his life. The woman who stole his heart and disappeared. He remembers her as an innocent, but she's changed since he knew her in high school. Could she really have killed her uncle? Worse than that, could she be killing the other members of her high school clique? No one can change that much, can they?