Her dad said nothing could hurt their relationship. But what if he isn't her dad?

Summer gets off to a rocky start for twenty-year-old Rae Riley when con man Uncle Troy returns to Marlin County, Ohio. Rae's father, Sheriff Walter "Mal" Malinowski, warns her to steer clear of Troy, who conned 5 cousins from the outlaw branch of the family to jump him a few years ago.

But it seems like wherever Rae goes, Troy lurks on the edges. When she and her cousins find Troy beat up outside a local mall, Rae's desire to help anyone in trouble kicks in. But this only leads to trouble and the horrible conclusion that Troy might be her birth father. Even worse, Mal is angry at Rae for endangering them all.

Then Ashley, the ex-wife of family friend Jason Carlisle returns to the county, claiming their youngest child Sylvie isn't his, but the daughter of her new fiancé. Ashley and her boyfriend say they are staying at the state park so she can see her children. Jason fears they want to sneak a DNA sample from Sylvie and hires Rae's aunt Carrie, a PI, to protect his kids.

When Rae agrees to help Ashley speak to Jason secretly, Mal is furious, leading to Rae's first fight with her newly found father. Although Mal apologizes, Rae senses a gulf between. What would happen if Rae found proof Mal wasn't her dad?

When Ashley disappears, Jason and his brother Rick are the main suspects. Mal leads the official investigation, while Rae and Carrie work to discover what really happened, and Rae conducts her own research into Troy's claim.

The clues mount up and the mystery only grows murkier. As doubts grow into a storm, Rae is faced with something much worse than a puzzle--a battle to survive. And it's not just her life at stake.