melissa renee st. angel

Kayleigh Reilly, a young, feisty social worker, lives with her dignified cat Niles and investigates child welfare cases in Dom Sangre, New Mexico, an area rife with poverty, oppression, drug trafficking and illegal immigration. Among Kay’s colleagues is a community patriarch, Manuel Ortega. An affable man with a colorful past, Manuel has assisted Kay’s department in providing a loving home for foster children. But soon Manuel’s character is called into question. A teenage girl, Anna Salvadore, a former child of the foster system, turns up brutally murdered. Preliminary evidence collected by the local police department implicates Manuel who is also the young woman’s uncle. Kay doesn’t believe Manuel is guilty for a minute, but despite attempts to persuade homicide detectives Flores and Hardigan, her friend ends up in jail, awaiting arraignment for murder.

Believing in Manuel’s innocence, Kay beings to look into Anna’s murder, and the people who knew her. She enlists the aide of Marc Fierro, a young border patrol agent and friend. Also assisting Kay’s efforts is the gruff and reluctantly helpful Detective Flores, as well as P.J., a young mystery woman and friend of Anna’s. The more Kay investigates Anna’s murder, the more the circumstantial evidence mounts against Manuel. To make matters worse, P.J. proves an elusive informant and goes on the run. All the while, a sadistic killer seems to be stalking the silent streets of Dom Sangre, searching for more prey. Aware that time is running out for both P.J. and Manuel, Kay doubles her efforts to locate P.J., putting herself in more danger. Can Kay catch up with P.J. before the killer catches up with her?