| Summary: |
When Detective Katie Scott is called to the discovery of a young girl buried on the grounds of a former children's home in Pine Valley, California, Katie assumes the victim is Candace Harlan, who ran away from Elm Hill Manor five years ago. It would be a devastating end to the cold case Katie's been working on. But the girl in the ground is not Candace. Fear grips Katie as she takes in the black ink that decorates the mystery girls back - a terrifying message about a hunter stalking his prey tattooed on her skin after she drew her last breath. Forcing down traumatic memories of losing her own parents, Katie suspects someone mistook this poor soul for Candace, and that this crumbling home for lost girls is at the heart of this terrible crime. She sets to work digging into the tragic history of the owners who lost so many children of their own and tracking down the last six residents and the staff who cared for them - but no one wants to talk, let alone remember. The next day, a second girl's body is found down by the creek at high water, the same words etched into her skin. Katie fears the worst: someone is picking off the last of the Elm Hill girls one by one. But what does the tattoo mean? And what monster would target these innocent girls who have already been through so much?Katie must dig deep to confront her own fears and protect the vulnerable but as the body count rises further, will there be anyone left to save? |
