When Washington, D.C. defense lawyer Dimitri Van Acker returns to Dawson County to open a small-town law practice, his first client, Susan Knox, reveals to him a disturbing family secret. At the same time Susan Knox, also known as the town whore, reveals to some of her lovers that she has contracted the HIV virus. When her apartment blows up in an explosion, knowing why Susan Knox hired him and the secrets it involves, Van Acker is suspicious about the cause of death. Deputy-Sheriff Hope Olson, a retired Navy Intelligence Officer and longtime friend of Van Acker, is appointed the lead investigator into the explosion by Sheriff Andrew Hinson. With little to go on, the investigation looks to be headed nowhere. When the local funeral director Joshua Underwood is found murdered at the funeral home, Dimitri Van Acker doesn't accept the burglary story the local authorities claim. He is convinced Underwood's murder is related to Susan Knox' death. Joining efforts with Hope Olson, Van Acker starts putting the pieces of the puzzle together and doesn't like what he's finding. Anyone with any knowledge about what is going on in Dawson County seems to die. Will Dimitri Van Acker and Hope Olson be able to stop the killer before one of them becomes a target?