Now, three years later, Shannon had found it hard to trust another man except her brothers. She had always felt that she was not allowed in their inner circle of the five of them since she was a child. They had protected her and now that she was a grown woman they still felt the need. Shannon was grateful that they had surrounded her in court, but she felt as if she was smothering. Okay, she had one mistake when she was in high school by getting pregnant by Brian Giles--a boy she thought she loved until after she admitted her pregnancy and the dirty rat fled the country! So much for love. Shannon had a baby girl that she gave up for adoption when she was barley minutes old. But she never had forgotten that sweet baby nor the one that Ryan had caused her to miscarry. Shannon guessed that was why she trained rescue dogs and had horses. They were her babies now as there would not be any human ones.

Shannon was having a nightmare of all nightmares, when the telephone jolted her out of sleep. She was grateful to put the dream behind her. Answering the telephone Shannon glanced at the clock. It was 1:07 AM and no one was on the other end. Shannon went to the kitchen for a cold drink of water and she looked out the window to see a white blur on the fence and upon closer inspection, she saw that it was a burned copy of her daughter's birth certificate from thirteen years ago! This was no coincidence that she was awakened at the exact time of her daughter's birth only to find a burnt but very legible copy of her birth certificate! Who could do this and why?

Travis Settler was frantic. Someone had kidnapped his daughter Dani and it appeared that the local authorities and the FBI were running in circles. Dani was just thirteen, damn it, and every minute they lost meant could be Dani’s life! It had been days since Dani was abducted but all the FBI wanted Travis to do was wait for a telephone call that Travis knew would not be coming. He wanted answers and he wanted them now! It had been three years since his wife had died and then Dani had started asking about her birth mother. He had decided to tell her when she turned eighteen, but it looked like Dani had taken matters into her own hands by searching for Shannon. Since it had all started with Shannon, that is where Travis intended to look and he headed for California. Travis had come prepared. In his truck was everything that he needed from clothes to night vision goggles and weapons. But he knew that he could not storm up to Shannon's door to demand she return his daughter and so he devised a plan to park his truck blocks away then approach the house on foot to observe and wait--that is when he saw her though her kitchen window and she was lovely! Just then Travis thought he saw someone lurking at the edge of her house, as he searched for his night goggles the man had disappeared and that was when he heard the explosion that had him leaping to his feet and Shannon bolting out the door!

Lisa Jackson is an awesome suspense writer who will have you second guessing every suspect, rapidly turning pages, and groaning at its conclusion when you slap your head that you should have known that from the clues. Ms. Jackson has very little sexual situations in her book but she makes up for it by holding you captive. Suspense fans this one is a keeper! Very well done Ms Jackson and I can hardly wait to read your next book!

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Mildly sensual

Reviewer: Linda B.
June 22, 2006