In 1987 young ATF agent Joshua Kendall was part of a raid on the Young Believers cultish compound. His bullet killed an innocent girl, and his guilt has destroyed everything good in his life ever since.

But he’s about to learn that the most shattering incident of his life was a lie.

Lizzie survived that raid, barely. Now (2004) she lives in rural Vermont, still hiding from the cult leader who has eluded capture all these years. She goes by Beth Slocum and she’s tired of looking over her shoulder, and wishes if he were coming for her, Mordecai would get it over with.

Josh is sent to protect Beth and recognizes her as soon as he looks into her eyes. He’d been told she was dead—and it has colored every second of his life since. But she’s alive.

Now his job is to keep her that way, and that means lying to her about who he is. If she knew, she’d send him packing. When attraction builds into desire between then, he knows he has to tell her the truth, but before he has the chance, Mordecai’s obsessive madness rains destruction on everyone Beth loves. He is determined to bring her to her knees. He wants her gutted before he she dies.

Like a silver screen cliché, Beth is falling in love with her bodyguard, but she knows he’s keeping secrets. What’s between them, however, will have to wait until they’ve dealt with a madman who believes he’s on a mission from God to destroy her utterly.