Private investigator Alissa Sterling is worried about her neighbor. Sam has been missing for nearly a month. A woman claiming to be his daughter has just hired Alissa to find him, but she thinks it odd that in all the years she's known him, Sam has never mentioned having a child. Regardless, Alissa is eager to assist. She and her coworker, Leslie Evans, gladly accept the case.When her furry sidekick, a service dog named Sydney, finds a bloody shirt in Sam's garden, Alissa knows she has to get the police involved. While the authorities test the evidence, she continues her search for Sam, following a trail of tips that lead to Tealspring Lake, a huge body of water nearly an hour from his home.Sydney is an important member of the team, aiding Alissa and Leslie by sniffing out vital clues. He's quite happy to be a working dog, and he gets several chapters of his own to tell his side of the story.Meanwhile, Alissa's investigative partner and love interest, novelist Matthew Rain, is away on a writing retreat in Montana with beautiful and famous author, Kelsey Timmons. The co-writing gig will be a huge boost for his career, but Alissa can't seem to shake her jealousy and the feeling that their relationship is doomed before it can truly begin.Just when she thinks the case is over, progressively stranger clues present themselves - clues that will turn the investigation in an entirely different direction. Alissa and Matthew receive invitations to two separate events they believe are related to the mystery. The catch is that the events are in different towns, each an hour and a half away from their headquarters. They must part ways and attend in order to capture their target, regardless of the risk.