The Silver Locket (Paperback)

Esperanza Vargas is happily walking along a path that overlooks the Hudson River, feeling safe because she's on a college campus, when suddenly from behind her a strong arm locks around her neck and chokes her unconscious. The next thing she knows, she's being raped by four guys, who have blindfolded her, gagged her, and stripped her naked. When all except one of them have taken their turn, they leave her to deal with what they have done to her. Removing the blindfold, she finds herself in a wooded area hidden from the path, and the sun has gone down. Instinctively, she reaches for the silver locket that her parents gave her for her fifteenth birthday, which she wears on a chain around her neck, but it's no longer there. She crawls around in the darkness desperately looking for it, but she doesn't find it. The missing locket, which represents everything she has lost, eventually turns up in an unexpected way and offers the possibility of a reconciliation.