A glimmer of hope

the long version

"Claire Bennett and Luke Rosentino, professors at a small southern college, meet as their lives are turned upside down. Claire discovers her husband Dennis' affair, kicks him out and files for divorce. Meanwhile, Luke's young daughter comes to live with him after her mother dies. When Claire and Luke begin to fall in love, their new relationship is the last straw for Dennis, a successful attorney who is caught in a terrifying tangle of his own. He's addicted to money and power and will let almost nothing stand in his way. Now, a blackmailer claims to have proof that Dennis embezzled money early in his career, and is demanding a million dollars for his silence. Desperate, bitter and angry, Dennis decides to kidnap Luke's six-year-old daughter, Lizzie, for a million-dollar ransom. He uses his former lover, Becky, a beautiful but troubled college girl, to help him abduct the child and hide her away. But Becky has her own secrets that could destroy their plan. Soon it's a race against time for police and FBI agents, working with Luke, Claire, their friends and family, to find Lizzie before the crisis explodes into murder." -- page [4] of cover.