Professor Merrideth Randall has an insatiable curiosity about the past. But unlike other historians, she has the means to satisfy it-an amazing computer program that lets her rewind the lives of people from long ago. So when the topic of Ohio River pirates piques her interest, she packs up her laptop and goes to Cave-in-Rock, Illinois. There pirates preyed on the thousands of settlers coming down the river on flatboats, heading for new lives on the western frontier. For a time, that stretch of the river was a black hole, where whole families disappeared along with their hopes, dreams, and treasures. And the only way for Merrideth to find out what happened to them is to get inside the head of Samuel Mason, the master mind behind the attacks. Merrideth's visit to Cave-in-Rock coincides with Hellhound Homecoming, a wild annual gathering of lawless bikers. A confrontation with five of them has her wondering if her curiosity will be the death of her. But God sends a tattooed biker named Trevor Dalton to her rescue. Trevor appeals to her in some way that's difficult to explain, even though he's night-and-day different from Brett Garrison, the McKendree College colleague who's still hoping for more than just a friendship with her. Which one should she choose-the man who is safe or the man with a past?