Scottoline efficiently applies the storyline regarding Jason's views, making use of a first-person narrative

The brand new FBI shows you toward loved ones that they can end up being under brand new observant attention of FBI twenty-four-hours a-day when you look at the a secure location, however, “discover zero correspondence” the help of its relatives, members of the family, personnel, residents otherwise loved ones. Lucinda's failure to keep caring for their own mother, just who is afflicted with Alzheimer's disease and you will resides in an attention studio, is especially terrible. They will not also be allowed to attend a close family member's funeral service. They need to simply disappear completely instead of a trace. Immediately after a family appointment, they reluctantly visited the conclusion that, whilst the FBI don't push these to enter the system, they don't really obviously have another alternative. Jason explains, “I left our life in silence. . . . We had got 15 minutes to prepare, . . . Deep in to the me was by far the most powerful sorrow I got ever before identified, one which got paid during the, unpacked, and you can took up residence.”

She purposely chose the setting to teach that the good crushed below Jason's foot might have been ripped out-of him

Scottoline, a former attorney, isn't any stranger to help you conducting search just like the this woman is committed to ensuring that the facts off their unique reports is “plausible and you may best.” She consulted on FBI knowing where a family eg this new Bennetts create probably go. She forecast getting secreted off to someplace such as for example Arizona, from its Pennsylvania family, but is surprised to learn that they might probably be invisible from inside the Delaware. She in addition to receive exactly what she found out about the fresh new Government Experience Protection Program, known as WITSEC (small to own “witness security”), “fascinating.” Jason shares Scottoline's surprised reaction when he learns he along with his relatives are increasingly being directed to the Delaware shore, simply exterior a beach area that is mainly discontinued when you look at the off-season. The brand new safe home is adjacent to an excellent saltwater tidal marsh and the encompassing domiciles are typically vacation residential property, finalized through to the summer months begins. “It actually is sensible,” Scottoline shows you. “You can mask somebody there in addition they couldn't be discovered.” Representatives Kingston and you will Hallman (affectionately known as Wiki, because of their encyclopedic information about of several topics) inhabit a smaller household on the same parcel that property their demand cardio. Jason rapidly learns that there are cameras mounted every-where, and about woods, as well as the agencies will maintain bullet-the-clock monitoring as part of their “Babysitter's Club” project. Jason in the future securities with Dom (Agent Kingston) because they run to one another and you will Dom teaches you the fresh items that prompted your to import away from a keen undercover task. Above all to possess reason for Scottoline's tautly-designed story, Jason slowly pertains to believe Dom, convinced that the agent's merely consideration try staying him with his family relations safer.

New rapidly unfolding occurrences have, according to Scottoline, “removed Jason totally of his comfort zone.” New marshlands related this new safe household was ebony, slick, and you can mysterious. “There's no extended terra firma,” she cards. Concurrently, this new marshlands take you to definitely section of the home, as vast Delaware Bay is on additional. Jason is at the termination of his rope “in which the residential property fits the look for and you may, to a certain extent, from the ocean.” When he notices, “I'd produced safer possibilities, one after the other, to your trust they will protect me and you may my children. But really right here I happened to be, using my household members in parts . . . To tackle they safer had not leftover them safe.”

Hearsay and you can theories swirl, and Jason discovers an internet site . was able from the an amateur sleuth who debts themselves due to the fact “America's biggest resident detective

On lack of facts, the new Bennetts' nearest and dearest, locals, and company lovers begin guessing on what has become of these. They shot social networking to help you commiserate and you may search solutions, and you will Lucinda's closest friend lodges a lacking persons report on the police. ” They are convinced that Jason killed his family members and you can went on the new manage, and that merely contributes to Jason's heartache . . . and you can cute Lima girls devotion.