Lois

In 1958 Georgia, the shade of a 13-year-old black girl's skin can make the difference in her fate. Tangy Mae is the smartest of her mother's 10 children, but she is also the darkest complected. The Quinns - all different skin shades, all with unknown fathers - live with their charismatic, beautiful, and tyrannical mother, Rozelle, in poverty on the fringes of a Georgia town where Jim Crow rules. Rozelle's children live in fear of her mood swings and her violence, but they are devoted to her. Rozelle pulls her children out of school when they are 12 years old so that they can help support her by going to work.

All I have is 20 bucks in my pocket and the clothes on my back. Knuckles threatened to torture me if I ran. He's counting down the days until he'll claim me. But I'm not going to wait around. I'm running like hell to Milan. The greatest lingerie designer in the world is looking for new talent for Barsetti Lingerie. I'm not exactly model material, but maybe I can get a job doing something and get paid under the table. But when I meet the infamous Conway Barsetti, he has other plans for me. Did I just run away from one monster into the arms of another?

Reporter Beth Wright is hot on the trail of a story that could expose an ugly scandal at the St. Clair Children's Home. But there's another hunter on the scene, someone who wants to make sure the story never sees print - and who isn't averse to lethal means, either. Nick Hutchins, a social worker, has his own uneasy hunches about the children's home, which are confirmed by Beth's investigation, a high-speed attempt on her life, and finally the startling confessions of an intruder. An appalling picture emerges of helpless children under the sway of a modern-day Fagin. There's one person who can save the children: Beth herself. But using the key could cost her reputation - or her life. One of the Sun Coast Chronicles, Presumption of Guilt is a gripping portrayal of the depths of human evil, the soul-twisting influence of lies, and the far-reaching freedom of God's mercy and grace.