27 Minutes

The homeless veterans living on the streets of Richmond may be considered "human trash" by the city, but Vietnam War veteran Buzz considers them his brothers - and the "no man left behind" rule applies. Lisbeth Hansen is an RN who runs a center attempting to rehabilitate and retrain homeless veterans, her goal being to give them back their dignity; however, her efforts are thwarted when she discovers that the men are MIA from the center. No one is concerned until Lisbeth suddenly goes missing, and when the sheriff believes that she's run away with her ex-fiancé, her father, Erik, enlists the help of lifelong friend Mike Lombardi, a retired LINY cop with his own host of demons.

Finding little evidence other than blood splatters later identified as Lisbeth's, Erik and Mike are joined by Buzz and Marcie Daniels, a reporter assigned to write about the missing nurse. They eventually learn that Lisbeth is being held in an abandoned mental hospital in Petersburg, where the medical director of the veteran's clinic is harvesting organs for profit. When the three of them attempt to rescue Lisbeth, they're captured and all face certain death.

Ultimately, the search for Lisbeth uncovers human organ trafficking, imprisoned veterans, and the nephew of a Vietnamese monk who's been searching for Mike for 45 years - to perform a ceremony that's sure to end his life....

©2011 Jeanne Johansen (P)2012 Pulse, LLC