Walking home from a high school dance on a foggy autumn night in rural New York, Marly Shaw sees a flash of approaching headlights. A pickup truck stops and two men get out. One of them is her stepfather. She runs. They follow. Minutes later, gunshots ring out. Two men are dead, and one terrified girl is running--for the rest of her life . . . Thirteen years later, human bones are discovered in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California. A tests reveal they belong to a mother and son from Central New York. Both have criminal records. Assault. Involuntary manslaughter. Maybe more. Santa Clara County Sheriff Detective Vanessa Alba wants to know how these backwater felons ended up so far from home. Vanessa and her partner, Jack Wong, head to the icy terrain of the Finger Lakes to uncover the secrets of a powerful family whose crimes are too horrifying to comprehend. Whose grip over a frightened community is too strong to break. And whose twisted ideas of blood and honor are a never-ending nightmare for the one family member who thought she got away . . . In this electrifying thriller, two women from opposite sides of the country find their lives inextricably bound-by blood, by fear, and by a merciless, murderous revenge . . . Walking home on a foggy night, Marly Shaw stops in the glare of approaching headlights. Two men step out of a pickup truck. One of them is her stepfather. A sudden, desperate chase erupts in gunshots. Both men are left dead. And a terrified girl is on the run-for the rest of her life . . . Thirteen years later, human bones discovered in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California are linked to a mother and son from Central New York. Santa Clara County Sheriff's Detective Vanessa Alba and her partner, Jack Wong, dive into an investigation that lures them deep into the Finger Lakes. They find a community silenced by the brutal grip of a powerful family bound by a twisted sense of blood and honor, whose dark secrets still haunt the one family member who thought she got away . . . "Held me captive from the first page to the last. Vivid settings and strength of character kept me reading late, late into the night, to an ending I never expected."-Taylor Stevens,New York Timesbestselling author ofThe Informationist "Bickford's tale of revenge, the dark reach and power of generational crime and violence, and of two brave and bright girls who become capable, fearless women is gripping, chilling, and original. Add in a keen, exacting eye for character and place that transcends 'genre' andA Short Time to Dieis sure to stay with you for a long, long time." - Eric Rickstad,New York Timesbestselling author ofThe Silent GirlsandLie in Wait