Pierce Reed/Nikki Gillette

Caitlyn Montgomery Bandeaux wakes one morning drenched in blood, her head pounding mercilessly. Worst of all, she can't remember what happened the night before - when her estranged husband was murdered. Now the police want answers. Tormented, Caitlyn turns to her sister for support and is warned not to talk to the handsome new psychologist in town. But she soon realizes he's the only person she's comfortable confiding in.

A woman is frantic as she awakens in a dark, closed space. From above her comes the muffled sound of cruel laughter, followed by the hard splatter of dirt. Pure terror takes over as she realizes she's being buried alive--and her last breath is a scream that no one but a sadistic killer will hear.

The most hated woman in Savannah, Georgia, is about to be set free. Twenty years ago, Blondell O’Henry was convicted of murdering her eldest daughter and wounding her two other children. The prosecution argued that beautiful, selfish Blondell wanted to be rid of them to be with her lover. Now Blondell’s son, Niall, has recanted his testimony and demolished the case in the process. Reporter Nikki Gillette is determined to get the true story, and not just for professional reasons. Blondell’s murdered daughter, Amity, was Nikki’s childhood friend.

The old Beaumont mansion is a rotting shell of its once-grand self, especially after a disastrous hurricane sweeps through Georgia. The storm does more than dislodge shutters and shingles. It leads to a grisly find in the cellar. Three graves. But only two skeletons… For Nikki, the discovery is a gift, the perfect subject for her next crime book—though Reed has made her promise not to keep involving herself in dangerous police business.

The stone is small and round, easy to miss among the junk surrounding Billy Huber’s body. The man was a hoarder for sure. At first, police assume he fell from a ladder, injuring his throat and smashing his head in the process. Only on closer inspection do they see the polished stone nearby, with a number on one side etched in blood, and a strange symbol on the other. Reporter Nikki Gillette seizes on the story and visits Huber’s sprawling property in Georgia’s low country. She gains little except the uneasy feeling of being watched.