Robin Stuart is in the process of relaunching her career as a journalist for the Atlanta Observer after suffering debilitating leg injuries sustained from a car accident two years previously. She is assigned to a case involving the execution style murders of three Meredith County Police Officers. After further investigating, it's discovered that several Meredith County Police Officers have died over the past few years under mysterious circumstances.

Sandy Harris is a Deputy Sheriff for the Sheriff's Department. After swearing Robin to secrecy, Sandy points blame for the three murdered officers in the direction of the Sheriff's Department. He gives Robin pitifully little information but it's enough to put her life and her family's and friends' lives in danger.

Ben Taylor, an FBI agent, believes that the murders of the officers tie in with another case he's working on involving Hydra, a form of the Southern Mafia - a criminal network engaged in drugs, car theft and prostitution.

Ben, still recovering from the breakup with his ex-wife, finds himself drawn to Robin. He absolutely hates journalists and believes them to be vultures who don't care who they hurt so long as they get their story. But Robin is a puzzle and puzzles have always intrigued him.

Robin is protecting information Ben wants. But how far is she willing to go to protect her source? When her house is broken into, her car run off the road, and her neighbors' house burnt to the ground, Ben is there to protect her. She finds Ben disturbingly attractive but when her source informs her this evil has penetrated even into the FBI she doesn't know if Ben is a good guy or a bad guy.