A violent earthquake destroys Jessie’s home, her husband Calvin, and her life. Her doctor, Maruja Dugar, happens to be visiting a friend who was also affected by the quake at the hospital Jessie is in. Volunteers and officials ask if she’d be willing to take Jessie in since she has no place to go. The doctor agrees and soon falls for the broken woman. Eventually, a relationship ensues, and Jessie finds peace for a while.

Although Jessie misses her husband terribly, she knows he’d want her to move on, and she does her best to do just that. But Maruja’s love and generosity slowly turn obsessive, suffocating Jessie to the point of annoyance and then outright fear.

Jessie breaks away and leaves California altogether. She heads to a place she believes the doctor is less likely to look for her—Detroit, Michigan. Living off what’s left of her government compensation, which the surviving and displaced victims received, she eventually lands a job cleaning offices in the downtown courthouse. Not long afterward, her language and computer skills catch the attention of the Honorable Judge Nia Hollins, to whom Jessie feels an instant attraction.

Just as Jessie begins to adapt to her new life, threatening messages start arriving from Maruja, who promises to take her back to California, like it or not. Nia, who is also attracted to Jessie, senses something is wrong and eventually gets her to open up. After confiding in her, Nia is determined to help in any way she can. But can she keep Jessie safe from a woman now driven by insane obsession, determination, and desire?

Written in 2014.