Leigh Heard

Give Me the Night Leigh Heard

David Thornton is a thirty-three-year-old child-welfare worker with over ten years' experience on the job. He has investigated more cases of child abuse and neglect than he would care to remember, and after working the graveyard night shift for more than a decade, he has seen his family disappear and his social life become almost non-existent. Now finding himself trapped between a career that has stagnated and solitary personal life, David spends his days off alone, longing for any release from a lifestyle he just doesn't know how to escape. Then while responding to a particularly confronting abuse case one night, David meets Nikki, a teenage girl with whom he develops a surprising connection. Alone, lost and abandoned, her story will shake him unlike that of anyone he has ever met before and cause him to question everything he knows about his work, his relationships, and life as he knows it. Shortly afterwards, David and his team suddenly find themselves reeling from the tragic death of a colleague, the return of a demon from their past and the terrible details of Nikki's case file. In Nikki, David finds an undeniable sense of connection, trust and understanding. But, where did the young girl come from? And what does she want from him?