Michael A. Nettles

Ten years after the natives murdered her family, Iris hires two men to wipe out the whole lot, which happens to now include her sister Cynthia.

She is seven. She does not speak. Cruelty follows. Fear spreads. What if her silence is forever? What if God has forgotten her? What if her voice was never meant to sound like ours at all?

While Detective Tyrell Banks was vacationing with his family, Senator Ken Dixson was assassinated in San Marcos. When Tye returns to work, he learns that the FBI is planning to take over the case in 3 days and transfer the sole suspect, Dale Howard Osbourne, to Washington to be tried in federal court. It seems obvious to Tye that Dale didn't do it and couldn't have done it, but he has to produce the evidence to prove Dale's innocence in order to get his Chief to stand up to the FBI and refuse to surrender the prisoner. At the same time, there is a drama in Tye's home life concerning a secret that he and his wife Mariela have been keeping from their only child, their daughter Kayla.—Ralph Cinque