When Alexandra Rafferty was a girl, something unspeakably cruel happened to her on a summer afternoon. Only her father knew about it -- or so she thought. Now a forensic photographer for the Miami P.D., Alexandra remains haunted by that horrible day, and it colors all or her relationships. Stan, her emotionally estranged and loutish husband, drives a Brinks armored car and has his own mind-bending agenda. Her now-aging, not-altogether-there father is growing more dependent and less dependable. And her work photographing crime scenes has become a life-consuming obsession.

Now Alexandra is about to get caught up in a gruesome series of rape-murders that seem to speak to her long-hidden past. But before she can understand the killer's message, her life spins out of control, sending her on the run -- from her husband, from the crooks after him, from a surprisingly persistent boyfriend, and from a killer who's bent on making sure Alexandra won't live long enough to translate his words.