The Eyewitness: Twelve years ago, Elizabeth's life changed dramatically. Now she tries to keep her past a secret.

Elizabeth is the daughter of an obsessively strict mother. When she finally lets herself go and drinks too much in a nightclub, she falls for the charms of a stranger with a Russian accent. The events that follow change her life forever.

Twelve years later, a woman known to everyone as Abigail Lowery lives on the outskirts of a small town surrounded by nature. A freelance programmer, she designs elaborate security systems; her own home is a kind of armed fortress, with a fierce guard dog and a wide range of firearms to keep intruders at bay. She keeps to herself, saying little, showing nothing. Abigail’s aloofness intrigues Police Commissioner Brooks Gleason. He suspects that she needs protection—and that she is hiding something that will eventually come out.