When her husband is killed, Meredith doesn't know whom to blame. If she had figured out earlier that Josh Maxwell was using his boat to smuggle drugs into the country, perhaps she could have prevented his death. As an investigator, and a good one, she should have been able to connect the dots. Only now does she begin the question why she married Josh, a man she barely knew. Was she that desperate to be married?

Wanting to justify her acumen as an investigator, and to gain insight into her motivation for marrying Josh, Meredith begins a covert investigation into his past. Her journey leads her to the north Oregon coast and into the path of Steve Lowery, a friend of Josh's and the county sheriff. Believing Steve could be involved in the same drug smuggling operation, she allows herself to become romantically involved with him in hopes of gaining information, but against her better judgement, she begins to fall for the ruggedly handsome sheriff.

As Meredith's investigation brings her closer to solving the mystery surrounding Josh's death, she runs afoul of an angry FBI agaent for interfering in his investigation. Undeterred, she continues her snooping only to find herself a target of a hired killer. She is then forced to turn to Steve for protection and even though he discovers she has been deceiving him about her past, he puts his concern for her safety as his highest priority. But Meredith's independent spirit reasserts itself as she flees from Steve's protection and straight into the arms of theleader of the drug smuggling syndicate.