Publisher's Synopsis
There comes a time in a man's life when he comes face to face with evil and he must make a choice: run, leaving the innocent and helpless behind, or put on his coat of armor and shine like a hero in the sun. Maria Martin is thirteen. She's bright, she's beautiful, and she's an incredible tennis player. She's also an orphan. When a dream comes true and she is invited to be a ball girl at the U.S. Open in New York City she is so excited that she can hardly contain herself. Two days before leaving, while practicing her shots against the garage door of her new foster home, her ball gets away from her and she chases it down the hill and into the basement of her neighbor's home. It is the basement of two dark and evil men. Russell Tucker is a tennis champion in the fifth set of his career. He has lived a life of high peaks and many deep chasms. He meets and befriends, Maria, this amazing young ball girl, while playing the two week long U.S. Open event. Having just played the finals match, he returns to his hotel where he suddenly finds himself trying to save Maria from an attack by two unknown men - only to have Maria step in front of a bullet that was aimed at him. Holly Stone left her husband, Russell Tucker, four years ago. A beautiful and world renowned singer, Holly has taken her life and career to new heights - but it all comes crashing down when she turns on the light in the bedroom of her French estate and discovers the secret, violent, and abusive side of her new husband. Now dazed, hurt, and scared - with nowhere to go and no one to go to - she takes a long flight home to a beach in South Carolina, only to discover Russell already there with Maria, who lies comatose in a bed - dying. This is the story of two former lovers, and all their friends, as they go to heroic efforts to save a dying girl. In doing so, what they discover about life, themselves, and Maria, will take your breath away - even as two serial killers, unnoticed, wait for their chance to finish what they started.