Author: Michael Hiebert
At 22, Sylvie Carson has known a lifetime's worth of trouble. When she was a child, her baby brother was shot to death by a man named Preacher Eli. Orphaned in her teens, Sylvie is now raising her own baby with no partner in sight. For all these reasons, Leah Teal, the only police detective in Alvin, Alabama, tries to be patient when Sylvie calls the station day and night, always with some new false alarm. But now, Preacher Eli is out of prison and moving back to town. As far as the law is concerned, the old man has paid his dues, although Leah's 12-year-old son, Abe, vehemently disagrees.