Arthur Glessner Sturges is drunk again. No surprise there but being 250 miles away from his hometown of Belfield, Ohio has set his teeth on edge.

That and the fact he just ran into his ex-fiance, Victoria. Arthur hasn't seen her in over eight years and, much to his chagrin, she is staying at the same hotel he is in Bloomington, Indiana.

The next morning, Arthur feels something is off. Drunk though he was, he remembers most of the conversation he had with Victoria outside his hotel room.

. .

Well, maybe not most of it, but some of it. He finds a black high heel outside his room and, while he knows Victoria is no Cinderella, he feels obligated to return her slipper.

Victoria's door has been forced open and Arthur recognizes signs of a struggle. "Find her" is written in lipstick on the bathroom mirror.

Victoria is dead on the floor. After being abrasively questioned by the police and released, Arthur makes a hard burn for the saggy, familiar bosom of Belfield.

His parting gift from Bloomington, aside from a nasty hangover, is a post-humous letter from Victoria telling him they have a seven-year-old daughter together who is in danger. "Find her.

" The words haunt Arthur as he stumbles through a whiskey fueled game of cat and mouse that uncovers a dark secret from Belfield's past. A secret that not only jeopardizes the life of a daughter he never knew he had, but also the future of mankind.

. .