Why did the monsters always come for the innocent? —She’d never stop hearing the cries of the ones most vulnerable. Former Sheriff Zoey Daviess has moved on from her Texas State Police days. Now, her mission is to uncover her birth family’s secrets and reveal the truth about the woman who sold Zoey’s siblings for cold, hard cash. Her search unearths more questions than answers. To uncover these painful secrets, she must once again join forces with her former partner. Sheriff Murdoch Lake. His rugged good looks were the stuff that made a woman stop and stare, but the moment he opened his mouth, Zoey was reminded why the man infuriated her like no other. Zoey Daviess was destined for far more than life in little Garrity, Texas. —He, Murdoch Michael Lake, had been sent there to rot. Fourteen months ago, nearly losing Zoey showed Murdoch the depth of his feelings for the confounding woman. She owned his heart and soul. But he’d never confess that. The woman had bite , after all. Zoey was the long-lost sister of a billionaire. She was meant for a different kind of life than what Murdoch could offer. Murdoch vowed to behave—hands off, no matter how difficult that became each time she looked his way. Why was it always the innocent who suffered the most? The past harbors more pain, fear, and turmoil than Zoey could ever have imagined. With each passing moment, the evil draws closer. Can Zoey and Murdoch uncover the truth before she is forced to witness the loss of the people she loves the most? HEARING HER CRIES is a 600-page, small-town western romantic thriller. It is a stand-alone novel that takes place in the wider Finley Creek and FBI and Masterson County universe. The Small-Town Sheriffs series contains multiple scenes of violence, adventure, dark criminal behavior, cursing by heroes, heroines and villains, a few mild-to-moderate love scenes, and references to subject matter that may distress some readers, including pregnancy loss and subject matters that may be triggering for some readers, such as mass shootings, child abuse and other dark themes.