His hands still cupping the underside of his partner's face, he tilted his own down to match it, feeling the damp warmth of her fur against his skin.

"This girl just saved my ass," he whispered. "That's what the hell happened."

For the past two months, Detective Reed Mattox and his K-9 partner Billie were in limbo. Victims of their own success, they were plucked from their post on the graveyard shift at the 8th Precinct and thrust into a newly created role working with the governor's office when a young woman is shot down outside her front door.

Immediately written off by some in the small town as nothing more than a tragic hunting accident, closer examination proves it to not just be a murder but an execution. A very pointed and deliberate killing Reed fears may be the start of things as he and his partner begin unraveling what is behind such a heinous act.