While Detective Rebecca Watson wrestles with the possibility that her mother may get away with murder, she responds to the murder-suicide of a family of five and soon discovers they had been in the Witness Protection Program. This greatly complicates her investigation.

Then a few days later, two Eugene Falls College students stumble up on a young woman's body partially covered with leaves. As Rebecca doubles down to solve both gruesome cases, she faces an emotional trauma of such unspeakable darkness that it makes her question whether she can still do her job.