Child psychologist Alex Delaware thought he'd put it all behind him - all the tense hours of dealing with disturbed kids and their equally disturbed parents. But he can't resist Melody Quinn. Pathetically skinny with huge, frightened eyes, 7-year-old Melody is the only witness the LAPD has in a grisly double murder.

"Two hours of your time...that's all it will take," says Alex's friend, Detective Milo Sturgis. Delaware quickly finds it's not that simple. What the little girl saw becomes a personal obsession that threatens his career and his life. Snared in a web of evil that stretches from the barrio to an elite island community, he approaches a ghastly secret that makes even murder seem like child's play.