As a private investigator in New York City, Sydney Sloane has several unbreakable rules - always get a retainer first, avoid cases that are obviously trouble, and never, ever mix business with her personal life. But sometimes the rules do not apply. When Sydney's friend, the father of her godchild, NYPD Captain John Cannady, is found shot and critically wounded outside of his own apartment door, the rule book goes out the window. Eager to help Cannady's distraught wife, Peggy, an old friend of Sydney's from their college days, Sloane tries to pitch in any way she can.With no real clues to go on, the police assume that the shooting was either completely random or the work of a criminal from Cannady's past looking for revenge. But those theories get scrapped when Peggy receives a threatening call from a man claiming to be someone from her own past - the now-adult child she gave up for adoption after an unfortunate teen pregnancy. His desire for revenge is terrifying, even more so when he raises the stakes and targets her young daughter Lucy.With only the thinnest of leads, Sydney must somehow find a man about whom they know almost nothing, and who has had a lifetime to cover what few tracks he might have left on any official records. With one friend fighting for his life in the hospital, another paralyzed by guilt and fear, and her godchild at risk, Sydney's skills are put to their ultimate test. Read Less