When a call from his daughter, Katie, interrupts his much-needed vacation, Detective Wade Jackson knows it#146;s bad news. As Katie tearfully announces that her mom -- Jackson#146;s ex-wife, Renee -- is missing, Jackson suspects alcoholic Renee has climbed back inside the bottle that destroyed their marriage. But the truth is far worse: kidnappers have snatched Renee and are demanding ransom from her wealthy fiancé.The very same night, someone dumps a savagely beaten University of Oregon coed on the doorstep of the ER. Jackson#146;s protégé, Detective Lara Evans, must identify the unconscious victim, then track down the assailant with no leads to go on...except the whispered rumor of a secret sorority. Meanwhile, Eugene#146;s new FBI liaison, Agent Carla River, takes charge of Renee#146;s high-tech ransom operation while Jackson comforts his distressed daughter and retraces the steps of the mother she holds dear. But as the rescue takes a deadly twist and the suspects seem willing to let Renee die rather than crack under interrogation, Jackson worries that Katie will never forgive him if her mother is lost forever.