Collateral: A Mike Craddock Thriller

Fourteen-year-old Taya Whitecloud never comes home. What begins as a missing-person case quickly draws former homicide detective Mike Craddock into something far larger than a single disappearance. The deeper he digs, the more he finds evidence of a network built to operate in plain sight, hidden behind ordinary transactions, legitimate businesses, and people who only ever see part of the truth. As Craddock follows the trail, outreach worker Sylvia Skalsh and journalist Addison Cole begin uncovering connections that stretch far beyond one missing girl. What initially appears isolated reveals itself to be something far more organized, a system designed to move victims, erase evidence, and survive exposure. The people behind it are careful. They understand how to hide in plain sight. They rely on compartmentalization, distance, and the assumption that no one will ever connect the pieces. For Taya, every passing hour narrows the chances of escape. For those searching for her, every answer leads deeper into a world where victims are treated as commodities and the truth is buried beneath layers of legitimate activity. And for Mariah Kade, a young woman trapped inside that world, survival may depend on a decision that carries consequences far beyond her own fate. As the investigation closes in on a critical transfer point along the British Columbia coast, Craddock and his allies find themselves racing against an organization that has already adapted to every threat placed in its path. The challenge is no longer finding the network. The challenge is reaching Taya before she disappears inside it. Set against the backdrop of one of society's most hidden crimes, Collateral is a suspenseful and thought-provoking thriller about exploitation, resilience, sacrifice, and the ordinary people willing to risk everything for those the world has already started to forget. Because sometimes the most dangerous systems are the ones hiding in plain sight.