Its been more than six months since her husbands brutal death and Julia Ransom is just beginning to breathe again She loved her husband renowned psychic August Ransom but the media frenzy that followed his murder sapped what little strength she had left Now after dinner with friends strolling along San Franciscos Pier she realizes that shes happy Standing at the railing she savors the sounds around her-tourists seals on a barge-and for a moment enjoys the sheer normalcy of it all And then it comes to an end Out of nowhere shes approached by a respectable-looking man who distracts her with conversation before violently attacking her and throwing her the railing If it hadnt been for Special Agent Cheney Stone out to stretch his legs between courses at a local restaurant Julia would have vanished into the bays murky depths Not only does he save her from a watery grave but he senses a connection between her assault and her husbands death and sets out to serve as her protector while reopening August Ransoms murder investigation Meanwhile in Maestro Virginia Sheriff Dixon Noble-last seen in Point Blank-still mourns his wife Christie who vanished hree years earlier His life too is just getting back to normal when he learns of a San Francisco woman named Charlotte Pallack whose shocking resemblance to Christie sends Dix across the country Though he knows in his heart that she cant possibly be his wife Dix is compelled to see her with his own eyes Once in San Francisco Dix and Cheneys paths inevitably cross With the help of agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock whose San Francisco connections prove essential in unlocking the mystery behind Charlotte Pallacks identity as well as the forces behind Julia Ransoms attempted murder Sheriff Noble and Agent Stone push deep into a complex world of psychics and poseurs As the stakes and the body count rise Savich Sherlock Dix and Cheney fight for answers-and their lives.
