Det/Sgt. Rushton Sterne, head of Missing Persons Unit, is at home, under suspension, when his good friend, Dr. David Newton, calls for his help to solve a mystery. David heads a Hospice on Isla Cresciente, a small isolated island in the Caribbean, and one of his staff is missing. After Rush Sterne arrives on Isla he finds the Hospice is totally different from what he expected. As he begins his search he meets Marielle Lebow, not a patient, also on an investigation, but separate from his. They maintain polite distance from each other but do learn that, back in the City, their Offices are only a mile apart. On returning home, their paths begin to cross again as Rush, with restrictions, resumes his Police duties and Marielle her Insurance Fraud investigations. Separately they become involved in many of the City's mini-dramas of crime, life and death that involve both strangers and family. Neither admits wanting to change their independent lives but circumstances lead to continuing cautious contact, neither sure of where all this may lead. Back in the Caribbean, David Newton tries to maintain his protective seclusion from his past until events force him to reassess his future. Rush, Marielle and David all discover that they cannot shelter themselves from the realities of Life or the inevitability of Death.