Sue Walsh wants two things: money to pay back her debts and revenge. With her eyes on the ransom money, she kidnaps 12-year-old Alec Vaughn and escapes to the only place she knows she can "disappear" for a while—Hanover House, a battered women’s shelter. Posing as an abused wife and mother, Sue will do anything or kill anyone it takes to keep her identity a secret.

Dana Dupinsky has spent years working for Hanover House and is fiercely protective of the women she encounters. So when Sue asks for her help, Dana can’t refuse. But the better Dana gets to know Sue, the more alarmed she becomes. Harm is befalling the people that she loves and she doesn’t know whom she can trust.