Traumatized by a recent life-or-death investigation, Sharon McCone flees to her ranch in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>'s high desert country to contemplate her future. Deep depression shadows her days and nights, and a chance encounter with a troubled, highly secretive Native American woman begins to haunt her dreams. Even though she is determined not to investigate anything during her stay--and perhaps not ever again--McCone is drawn into the plight of the young woman and her dysfunctional family. A murder and traces of violence at a deserted resort lead her across the desert and into <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nevada</st1:place></st1:State>, and finally to a remote and isolated ranch, where danger lies closer that she expects and where her future and life itself may hang in the balance.