Cari Moses has been plagued throughout her childhood by a web of mystery and intrigue. She was abandoned as a baby beside the canal where her birth mother was brutally murdered. Another family took her in, but now, Cari no longer trusts her "mother" Karen and is repelled by her cloying attention. Meanwhile the serial killer responsible for the murder of Cari's birth mother, serving a life sentence for his sadistic attacks, plots revenge. Leckie, the daughter whose identification resulted in the killer's capture, is still coming to terms with the repercussions, and Sandy the police officer has lost the job she loved due to her befriending of Leckie. Cari's true father persists in his belief that his daughter did not die at the time of her abduction. He seeks the help of the new detective agency formed by Sandy in an effort to find her. Now, the serial killer has escaped from a high security prison hospital and resumes his killing spree. He targets Cari and the daughter who betrayed him. Despite the danger that surrounds her, Cari finds a way to forge a new life, avoiding at last the cracks in family relationships that have plagued her since birth.