No longer working for law enforcement, Cassie has started a career as a private investigator in Montana, and is getting steady work though she resents the time she has to spend away from her son. When a close acquaintance calls on her to take a distasteful case—Blake Kleinsasser, the wealthy son and designated heir of a prosperous ranching family, has been accused of assaulting his niece, and his lawyer wants the details investigated—Cassie reluctantly agrees to take the job. But a visit to the town where the Kleinsassers live reveals that everyone in the area owes some kind of loyalty to the family—or has a reason to fear them. Finding out what really happened won’t be easy in a place that seems to be united against her.