JUGGLING A FAMILY AND A CAREER HAS NEVER BEEN EASY FOR COCHISE COUNTY SHERIFF JOANNA BRADY

Now the impending birth of her second child only adds to her burden, especially when two brutal crimes fall under her jurisdiction.

A corpse is discovered in the Arizona desert with the fingers severed from both hands—the body of an ex-con who served twenty years for a murder he claimed not to remember. Soon after, one of Joanna's female officers is savagely assaulted and left for dead while on an unauthorized stakeout. Since the victim is one of their own, the department directs the bulk of its resources toward finding her attacker. But the desert slaying haunts Joanna as well, and neither her pregnancy nor family concerns will keep her from doing her duty, no matter how perilous. Because justice must be served. And enforcing the law has become more than what Joanna Brady does—it's what she is.

As an adult, my brother Jim returned to our home town in Bisbee, Arizona, where he joined the Bisbee fire department.  He was named fire fighter of the year twice, once for rescuing a guy who had electrocuted himself on a power line tower and another time for the rescue of a young child who had caught his arm in a sump pump.  Because the child was in Naco, across the international border with Mexico, Jim had to coordinate with two governors in order to take US equipment and personnel across the line.

When Jim died of an undiagnosed heart ailment at age 50, his death came as a terrible shock to my parents in particular as well as to the community at large.  His funeral, in 2000, was the first fallen officer memorial I ever attended, and I used what I learned there to create the fictional fallen officer memorial in this book.  And now you understand the dedication of this book.  

JAJ