Bright, creative Abigail Pustovoytenko has decided that at the age of thirteen—almost fourteen—she is too old for her home school group. Mom Gloria, an immigrant from Ukraine and head nurse in Cleveland County hospital’s ICU, simply doesn’t understand her completely American daughter.
So, when an early-morning car accident on Southern California’s I-13--in which six recent graduates of Pinto Springs High School are fatally injured--captures her mother’s attention in the ICU, Abigail makes her escape to Pinto Springs High and enrolls for classes.
That's when Gloria Pustovoytenko calls private investigator Rachel Lyons and asks for her help in bringing Abigail back into the fold. Abigail and Rachel are both members of the Quilted Secrets hand quilting group, a connection Gloria hopes will allow Rachel to succeed where she has failed.
However, no one is prepared for the shocking developments on campus when the local high school gang suddenly snaps under pressure from mysterious forces and begins engaging in ever more violent acts.
As Abigail draws unwanted attention by speaking up for the victims of the escalating gang activity, Rachel and her husband and partner Matthew Lyons begin the search for clues to multiple crimes among the stitches of Abigail’s recently-completed quilt and in the neighborhoods of the Pinto Springs community. Ultimately, the imagery of that lovely quilt becomes a lifeline for more than one girl in desperate peril.
