Charlie's life abruptly changed again when Ratchet discovered the two South African Agents following the Ghost Ranch group at the Reno Air Races. Then Mary Collingsworth unexpectedly escaped from her house arrest and her husband, the vile Howard Collingsworth disappeared from the Police Ward of the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

Everything Charlie had accomplished in separating herself from Howard's tenacious pursuit and abhorrent designs on her had evaporated, and she was plunged back into a world of fear and darkness, no longer certain the seclusion of the ranch could protect her and the others.