Betsy Peterson may be eighty years-old, but she is sharp as a tack and certainly is nobody's fool. Betsy's son and daughter-in-law are trying to persuade Betsy to move into an assisted living facility. Someone is "gas lighting" Betsy trying to prove she is getting senile and forgetful. Athena Reynolds, Betsy's granddaughter, is worried about her, and asks her mother-in-law, Ali Reynolds Simpson, for help. Ali makes use of her new husband's security firm to install high-technical safeguards in Betsy's house in Minnesota.

Seventeen-year-old Enid Tower has been the "new" wife of Brother Gordon Tower for two years, and she is nearing term with her first pregnancy. Enid has lived in The Encampment of The Family all of her life, and does not want her baby girl to be a part of this cult. Enid has made plans to escape knowing if she is caught there will be severe penalties and punishments. Enid wants to make it to Flagstaff to find help from a woman named Irene; she finally gets a ride with an Indian couple that will take her about twenty miles from there. This young woman has no money, has never been on the "outside", and is brave enough, and desperate enough to run away. After her ride lets her out at their turn-off, Enid is crossing the highway when she is hit by a car driven by a young man turning into the service station. He wasn't going fast, but the impact was enough to throw her a few feet. He immediately calls for help, and accepts all blame for the accident. Enid is transported to a hospital in Flagstaff; all of this is being observed by a member of The Family.

One of Ali's dearest friends, Sister Anselm, is spending the night at Ali's home due to the horrid weather, and she is due at an early morning meeting nearby. Sister is the project manager for the remodeling construction of St. Bernadette's, a diocese-operated retreat in Payson, Arizona. The good Sister is also a patient advocate for people that have no one to stand for them while they are hospitalized, and she gets a call in the wee hours that her services are needed as a protector when Enid and her newborn are brought into the hospital in Flagstaff.

Wow. J. A. Jance kept me spellbound from the beginning of COLD BETRAYAL to the final page. Ms. Jance is an awesome story teller, very adept at character development, and her scripts are always tight, spot-on, as well as her narrative and dialogue. Ms. Jance deftly ties all of these intriguing story lines together in COLD BETRAYAL and rewards her readers a wonderful, suspense-filled tale.