by Charles Knief

After solving the murder of his former commanding officer's daughter, private-eye John Caine is slowly recovering from the tragic loss of his girlfriend, police detective and former rival Kate Alapai, and of his beloved boat Duchess. When a wealthy San Diego woman hires him to find her missing husband, he must leave the islands and fly to California to investigate. Claire Peters, a striking and confident young woman, had been her husband's partner in their very successful software company until word came of his accidental death aboard a motorboat earlier that year. Claire suspects she may have been the victim of a cruel scam when she discovers that seven million dollars is missing from their joint bank account and spots someone who she thinks is her husband. With the IRS threatening to foreclose on Claire's company, it is only a matter of time before she will lose everything. As Caine, still grieving for Kate, struggles to overcome the attraction he feels for the lonely widow, he must resort to all his special skills as a SEAL to find out what really happened to Paul Peters and the missing fortune.