Katie Wilk and her black Labrador retriever, Maverick, are training for Search and Rescue certification, and Katie is well into the school year with her math and science students. But a series of shocking events rock their small town—a teenage beauty queen is found dead in a state park, Katie’s neighbor’s three-year-old daughter is abducted, and Maverick’s SAR certification exercise turns into a real emergency. Doctor Pete Erickson, the man Katie was starting to have feelings for, seems curiously out of touch with her these days, but the new veterinarian in town may turn out to have quite a lot in common with her. Can Katie put together the pieces and learn if the crimes are connected, or will she and those dear to her be put in even greater danger?