The Secrets We Hide

Allison Vickery, a retired police officer, hurriedly throws clothes into a suitcase, preparing to flee her home in North Falls, Georgia, with her daughter, Mandy Vickery. She plans to use fake IDs, pay in cash, and remain on the move to escape an unspecified group. Overwhelmed with anxiety, she grieves leaving behind her friends, neighbors, and career. While checking her street for threats, she sees her neighbor Drake Saddler speed past. She grabs Mandy’s textbooks and shoves them into a backpack, deciding to leave all electronics behind. 

Allison descends the staircase to check the deadbolt on the front door. As her foot comes off the last tread, she’s confronted by someone she loves. The Crown Royal bag she keeps her Glock 19 handgun in is discarded, empty, on the floor. The unnamed person aims the Glock 19 at her, and Allison is shot.

Emmy Clifton attends the funeral of her mother, Myrna Joy Clifton, who recently died from Alzheimer’s just six weeks after the death of Emmy’s father, Gerald Clifton. Emmy is surrounded by family, including her son, Cole, a deputy; her brother, Tommy, and his wife, Celia; and her estranged older sister, Jude Archer, a retired FBI criminal psychologist.