Description
The night before his wedding, 24 year old police officer Eric Todd waits for a taxi in front Shady's Strip Club after his bachelor party, and ends up saving a beautiful, young, blonde haired and green eyed, exotic dancer named 'Maya' from being raped in an alley beside the bar.
When the girl refuses to press charges against her attacker and flees the scene (speeding off in a mini van), Eric is left with nothing but scrapes and bruises, an unconscious rapist with a concussion, and a laundry list of unanswered questions.
Three days later, after his fiancée left him standing at the altar, Eric returns to work and is given the task of tracking down the young woman he rescued before her obsessed attacker can lie his way into a get-out-of-jail-free card. Along with his best friend and police partner, Jim Richardson, Eric runs into one crazy dead end after another, false names and ID's and a burned out abandoned house in a gang infested, gun-happy neighborhood.
Only when he's off duty, can Eric seem to run across the mysterious and frightened young lady, and each time he does, she runs off again leaving him with more questions and a strange, overwhelming desire to protect her from whatever dark secrets she's hiding from him.
Eventually, Eric gathers enough information to lead Jim and himself to the girl's real name and home address, but when they get there, they're met with more problems than they had bargained for. As it turns out, Maya, who's actual name is Mira, is a sixteen year old adolescent who has been dancing at Shady's to support her selfish, lazy and emotionally abusive mother and her critically ill, hospitalized little brother.
In order to help Mira, Eric is faced with a life altering choice that could potentially ruin his career and his reputation as a member of the Parish Hills Police Department. He must either stand by and watch while Mira's mother sends Mira off to a state run coed group home, or agree to the mother's unusual terms and take Mira home to live with him until her would-be rapist is taken to trial and hopefully sentenced to a nice long prison term.
What exactly are these unusual terms, and what will Eric decide to do? Will he allow the odd twist of emotions and protective urges he feels for this troubled young stranger affect his judgement? Will the frightened and mercurial Mira ever learn what it's like to trust another person and know what it's like to have that person actually care about her in return? And what will happen when Mira discovers a cold case murder file that drags her and Eric into a terribly sordid family history and a deeper mystery than either one of them can begin to fathom?
Find the answers to those questions and more in the mysterious and thrilling story of heartbreak, friendship, forbidden romance and murder called "Blackbird".
