The extraordinary true story of a family, a brutal shooting, and the year that would change their lives forever.

When Cylin Busby was nine years old, she was obsessed with Izod clothing, the Muppets, and her pet box turtle. Then, in the space of a night, everything changed. Her police officer father, John, was driving to work when someone leveled a shotgun at his window. The blasts that followed left Johns jaw on the passenger seat of his carliterally. Overnight, the Busbys went from being the "family next door" to one under 24-hour armed guard, with police escorts to school, and no contact with friends. Worse, the shooter was still on the loose, and it seemed only a matter of time before hed come after Johnor someone else in the familyagain. With their lives unraveling around them, and few choices remaining for a future that could ever be secure, the Busby family left everything and everyone they had ever known…and simply disappeared.

As told by both father and daughter, this is a harrowing, and at times heartbreaking account of a shooting and its aftermath, even as it shows a young girl trying to make sense of the unthinkable, and the triumph of a familys bravery in the face of crisis.

CYLIN BUSBY is the author of several nonfiction articles as well as several fiction books for young readers. She is the former senior editor of Teen magazine and the author of numerous magazine articles. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and young son.

JOHN BUSBY is retired and lives with his wife of over forty years, Polly Busby. He continues to fight for the extension of the statute of limitations on assault of a police officer.