[EXTENSIVE REVISION] Visit carmicason.com for character descriptions and story discussions. "This is really starting to piss me off. People aren't supposed to wake up where they didn't fall asleep."Briel Cortez had set her life up for independence. From the moment she had reached adulthood, she had shunned any relationship that required too much investment - until the day her security consultant job took her undercover into a suburban home. Suddenly, Briel realized that she regretted so much that she had done since her family had died. Only when a psychopath holds her over the precipice of death does she understand what she has sacrificed for her self-sufficiency. Only then does Briel see what she really wants out of life.