Allison Huguet is a rape victim, and she is tough and resilient. Allison was a high school track star before attending Eastern Oregon University on a pole-vaulting scholarship. As a high school student, Allison did a research project on police SWAT operations where Detective Guy Baker served as her mentor. For the project, she took a SWAT physical fitness test. Though the test was only part of her research, she was the first woman in Missoula to complete the test with a qualifying time. After Beau Donaldson rapes her, Allison’s connections with Detective Baker and the Missoula Police help her to come forward to make her report. But it takes Allison a long time to make that decision. She isn’t vindictive. She wants Beau to get help, but not necessarily to serve prison time. Allison only reports Beau after she becomes convinced that he has not taken responsibility for his actions and that he may still pose a threat to women in the community.

Allison’s rape changes her. She withdraws socially and takes her classes online for a semester. She also finds herself having violent thoughts and even drunkenly offers a friend a thousand dollars to beat up Beau Donaldson. Allison is disturbed by these changes in herself. She decides she needs justice and realizes that the only thing that can make Beau change is harsh punishment. She wants Beau to serve time in the state prison. Allison’s rape is the only rape in Missoula that is successfully prosecuted in criminal court. Allison works with dogged determination to be sure that her rapist is brought to justice.