PRETTY LITTLE THINGS

Thirteen-year-old Lainey Emerson is the middle child in a home police arealready familiar with: her mother works too much and her stepfather favorshis own blood over another man’s problemsâ€"namely Laineyand her wild older sister, Liza. So when Lainey does not come home f rom aFriday night out with her friends, it is dismissed by the Coral SpringsP.D. as just another disillusioned South Florida teen running away fromsuburban drama and an unhappy home life.  But FDLE Special Agent BobbyDees, who has headed up the Department’s difficult CrimesAgainst Children (CAC) Squad in Miami for more than a decade, is not quiteso sure. Nicknamed “The Shepherd†by colleagues, he hasan uncanny ability to find the missing and bring them back homeâ€"dead or alive. Haunted by the still-unsolved disappearance of his owndaughter, Bobby recognizes the all too familiar up-swell inside him, thegut feeling that Lainey Emerson is no runaway. A search of her computer anda talk with her best friend reveal Lainey was involved in a secret internetrelationship, spawned over a chat room, and nurtured through untraceableinstant messages. Bobby fears she may be the victim of an online predator,and when chilling hand-painted portraits of other possible victims aremailed to a local television station, he realizes she may not be the onlyone.  The faceless monster from cyberspace, who has gone to remarkablelengths to stay invisible, now seeks a captive audience. And it is BobbyDees he wants watching. Can Bobby win this deadly game of cat and mouse,one involving the most prolific killer he has ever encountered? And will hebe able to save Lainey and the others before it is too late?