Marooned on Cumberland Island National Seashore off the coast of Georgia, Anna finds time weighing heavily as she waits out a twenty-one day assignment on fire detail. When the sudden plane crash in the inland palmetto thickets calls her and the other members of the fire crew to action, the flames are quickly extinguished. But suspicions smolder over the cause of the accident which killed both the pilot and his passenger, Cumberland's lone law enforcement ranger. The tightly-knit island society begins to seethe with hushed accusations. As tensions escalate, Anna and crew find themselves pressed service. Though the "experts" are called in to evaluate the crash, Anna can't let the investigation rest solely in their hands. Her inquiry causes her to stumble into shady dealings that question the integrity-and honor-of her own crew.