Susan Blake and Jake shared only one dinner together and that was nearly a year ago. Yet, it took everything he had to walk away from the natural attraction they felt for each other. He was, and is, committed to Kathleen. "If you don't know what an anchor is for, you better get your ass off the water." When Susan frantically phones Jake, he can only wonder why.After a violent encounter on a beach, Susan's 18-year-old niece, Jenny Spencer, who has been living with her for only two days, is missing. She had just recently run away from her home in Ohio to live with her aunt. Because it is her second disappearance within a week, the police have little interest. "Two thousand people," the detective informs Jake, "about 100 every hour, are reported missing in this country." But Jenny's cell phone is left behind and Susan knows that is not right. She engages Jake to find Jenny. Aware of the statistics of missing persons who are never found if not located within the first forty-eight hours, Jake actions become less choreographed and more desperate. Despite their efforts, Jake and his partner, Garrett Demarcus, seem incapable of anything other than continually being a step behind in freeing a girl whose luck is running out. As Jake and Garrett tighten the circle around Jenny, they are drawn into the center where Kathleen's security and Jenny's freedom become strangely and irrevocably entwined. Jake's trademark humor and wit is challenged by dark moments. Blackmail is on Jake's menu until Kathleen pops some moral questions—questions that Jake would prefer to ignore. Jake gives everything that he is in the fight to protect the woman he loves and to find Jenny Spencer. Dead or alive. And if dead, to extract revenge for the young woman he would never know.