The discovery of a dead man in Ruby Jane Whittaker’s tub leads Skin Kadash on a frantic search through the haunted past of the woman he loves.

A young woman flees abuse; a teen runaway hides a dark secret; an ex-cop chases his own past. All three converge at the harrowing end of a trail of violence stretching from the high desert to the streets of Portland.

Portland homicide detective Skin Kadash just wants to survive treatment for bladder cancer long enough to get back to work. But when his partner asks him to look into a series of deaths, he’s not interested — he’s sick and doesn’t need the grief — until she tells him the victims all suffered from cancer and all were being treated by the same doctor treating Skin.