Linda Grainger has been forced to live in boarding schools since she was five years old. The last month before her college graduation, she was called home because her father, an archeology professor, was killed in an automobile accident. Her mother had died at her birth, so she was now alone in the world with questions and no one who had answers. The search for her past leads her to explore the western desert with Brett McAlister, her father's graduate assistant. Linda disappears; and in Brett's search for her, they discover secrets that they will never be able to reveal. The shadow figure in Linda's troubling past steps into the light, bringing complications that may make Linda disappear forever. Brett's love for Linda stands between the evil that wants to take control of her life and her escape to the real world with him.