When Jennifer Brady returns to Northern Arizona University for her sophomore year, she quickly becomes a big sister to her new roommate, Beth Rankin, a brilliant yet sheltered sixteen-year-old freshman. For a homeschooled Beth, college is her first taste of both freedom and unfettered access to the internet, and Jenny is concerned that she’s too naïve and rebellious for her own good. Her worries are well-founded because one day Beth vanishes, prompting Jenny to alert campus authorities, local police, and her mom, Sheriff Joanna Brady—who calls in a favor. Beth is found, but Jenny’s concern has unwittingly put her in the crosshairs of a criminal bent on revenge. With Christmas vacation approaching, and Beth at war with her parents, Jenny invites Beth to the shelter of the Brady home. While Joanna is sympathetic, she’s caught up in a sensitive case—an officer-involved shooting that has placed the lives of two young children in jeopardy—leaving her stretched thin to help a fragile young woman recently gone missing and endangered. Returning to Northern Arizona University for her sophomore year, Jennifer Brady becomes a big sister to her new roommate, Beth Rankin, a brilliant yet sheltered, homeschooled, sixteen-year-old freshman. With her first taste of both freedom and unfettered access to the internet, Beth at war with her parents. Jenny asks to invite Beth home for Christmas, and Sheriff Joanna Brady says yes. While Joanna's department is sucked into a complex officer-involved shooting that places two vulnerable young children in jeopardy, Beth disappears. With her own daughter's well-being at stake, Joanna knows there's no room for the slightest mistake as hope ticks away. -- adapted from jacket.