-- ORPHAN - AGENT - DAUGHTER - PAWN --

Elise feels like she's always getting things wrong -- from a murderous psychopath as a best friend, to a big sister who's four years younger, twice as smart, and a real bitch sometimes.

She was the mixed-race child of an unmarried white woman in Apartheid South Africa, then the unsuspecting social experiment of a minority rights activist in Boston. She proved herself to be a capable counterintelligence officer, but was still labeled the office quota-filler. While working undercover, she became close with the people she was investigating.

And they tried to put a bullet in her head.

Now she's out after nine years in federal prison -- physically scarred, emotionally damaged, and neurotic as hell. She's offered a job by an ultra-secretive security company, tracking a financial con artist who's targeting one of the world's most powerful & ruthless men. Her gut tells her to have nothing to do with it, but the money they offer is her best shot at starting over. If she goes, it may mean never coming back. If caught, she'll be the one thrown back into prison. Of course, she has to survive it all first.

The problem is, there's a troubled little girl inside of her who keeps getting underfoot, threatening to trip Elise up every step of the way.

She's done dumber things before. Many times. She considers it her gift.