When an award-winning author sails along Florida's famous Treasure Coast into Vero Beach marina, he watches a 13-year-old, foster home refugee perform dangerous tasks for local boaters. Intrigued by the lad's enterprise, the writer hopes he has found the central character for his next book. Soon, his wife's lapdog goes missing and he asks the boy for help. After many scrapes with a local hooligan, the two learn the prized pup has been stolen and will either be put in a dogfight ring or sold at a black-market auction. The boy stumbles onto the illicit site, which leads to a harrowing conclusion. As background information, one part of the story describes southern Florida's part in the 17th century Caribbean sugarcane market. In its earliest phase British landowners utilized cheap labor for their lucrative efforts. Workers came to the plantations as African slaves, Caribbean natives and captured Irish indentured servants. This story segment follows two Irish families who fight for freedom at the hands of their English oppressors. After many generations, a handful of them make their way to a small town in Cuba. It is on this and other Caribbean islands that their descendants survive to this day.