Eve Dallas is one tough cop. She can take on purse snatchers, drug dealers, and worse. But when Trudy Lombard - a seemingly ordinary middle-aged lady - shows up at the station, it's all Eve can do to hold it together. Instantly, she is plunged back to the days when she was a vulnerable, traumatised young girl, trapped in foster care with the twisted woman who now sits smiling in front of her...

Trudy claims she came all the way to New York just to see how Eve was doing. But Eve's fiercely protective husband Roarke suspects otherwise - and his suspicion proves correct when Trudy, rebuffed by Eve, shows up at his office demanding money in exchange for keeping the ugly details of Eve's childhood a secret. Using every ounce of willpower he has to restrain himself, he shows her the door - and makes it clear that she'd be wise to get out of the city and never bother them again.

Eve and Roarke will be satisfied if Trudy Lombard just heads back to Texas. Somebody else, though, wants her dead - and just a few days later, she's found on the floor of her hotel room, a mess of faded bruises and fresh blood. A cop to the core, Eve is determined to solve the case.