The Disappearance

On a soft summer night, she vanishes. With her friends sleeping nearby. With her parents' wealth and power guarding her. Someone walks into the bedroom of her Montecito home and takes fourteen-year-old Emma Lancaster away. That is the first crime. A frantic search begins. Eight days later, abduction becomes murder. Police hunt for Emma Lancaster's killer. A year later, they make an arrest. With an outraged town crying out for blood, powerful media tycoon Doug Lancaster vows to see his daughter's accused murderer convicted and put to death. One man stands in his way. He believes that the rush to judgment in itself is a crime. Once a hard-driving, take-no-prisoners Santa Barbara D.A., Luke Garrison sent a defendant to the death chamber - only to discover he was innocent. The last thing he needs is to come back to a place crawling with memories and bad dreams. But there's something strange about the Emma Lancaster case - too many loose ends that don't add up. Although his instincts tell him to leave it alone, Luke is determined to get at the truth. If he plays it right, it could give him back his life. If he's wrong, he could die. And a killer could walk.