An imperiled child reminds Lieutenant Eve Dallas of her own painful upbringing in this entry in a long-running near-future romantic suspense series, written by Nora Roberts under the pen name J. D. Robb. Someone has murdered everyone in the Swisher household, except for nine-year-old Nixie, who sneaked out of bed for a drink in the middle of the night. Convinced that only she (and her husband Roark's high-tech security system) can keep Nixie safe, Eve shelters the frightened little girl in her own home. Eve's assessment of the situation proves to be dreadfully correct when others assigned to protect Nixie begin turning up dead.