Elena Flory-Barnes

With a history of men dominating her fate, a broken woman returns to her hometown to bury her mother only to find a violent organ smuggling ring already has the body and wants no witnesses, but by trying to extinguish her they spark an inferno.

Marcie has a dream: to own Ed's Tavern, where she's bartender and den mother to a devoted small-town community. But when a developer sets his sights on Ed's wooded land, Marcie's future is upended. As she rallies her people, she finds that an endangered bird may hold the key to preventing the loss of the tavern and saving her community.

In 1997, 11-year-old Jesse finds a mysterious staircase in the woods and disappears - - 20 years later, a group of hikers sets off into the very same woods. Unfortunately for them, they come face-to-face with the very same set of stairs...