A former FBI cryptologist and now Tangipahoa Parish Deputy Sheriff, Haley Browder, has begun a nice quiet lifestyle living and working on a bayou north of New Orleans. That is, until an FBI Agent, Serena Keith, is discovered murdered and dumped in the swampy bayou. Haley is recruited by the FBI in DC to decipher the murdered agent's cryptic investigative notes that were prepared just before her murder. The person recruiting Haley is her former mentor, FBI Deputy Director Steve McMann, whom she also had a prior personal relationship with that ended badly. The cryptic notes are anticipated to identify suspected corruption at several levels in the government, stemming from the theft of millions in FEMA Hurricane Katrina recovery funds. Haley is suddenly the next target of those who want the investigation to be thwarted. She is assisted by United States Marshall Jay Thibodaux in attempting to get her revealing report to the proper and trusted authorities. Trouble is, just who does she trust, since there are FBI insiders in the criminal conspiracy, as well as New Orleans crime family members.

Trying to stay underground while the threats to her are identified, Haley has another small issue: the deciphered notes indicate that someone in the marshall's family, a known New Orleans crime family, is also involved in the conspiracy and Haley can't be certain of his intentions.

Meanwhile, the FBI's investigation tracks the millions in stolen money to the Cayman Islands and then ultimately to Cairo, Egypt, where more lives are at stake. This part of the investigation leads to confirmed high-level Capitol Hill government corruption, as well as to in-house high-level FBI activity that compromises the integrity of the agency.

Take a trip with Haley as she finds herself running for her life, while hoping she can trust the man who hired her as well as the man who is trying to hide her.