Working as a paralegal and attending law school at night, Nina has her hands full. She's fighting for custody of her young son Bob and overseeing a medical malpractice lawsuit on behalf of her mother, Virginia Reilly. Nina knows the emotional toll a lawsuit can take, but Virginia is determined to sue her doctor she wants to leave some money for Nina and her troubled brother Matt when she dies. But Nina's personal stresses are ramped up when a local tragedy plunges Nina into a hunt for a killer a killer only she believes exists.

When a woman falls to her death off a bridge near Big Sur, Nina suspects there is more to the accident than the authorities are saying. With the only help coming for Detective Paul van Wagoner Nina embarks on her solitary quest for answers, stirring up trouble along the way, she moves dangerously close to the shattering truth and catches the killer's attention herself.