"After being away from his home in the Florida Keys for nine months, Jesse McDermitt has returned to find his tiny island compound just north of Big Pine Key in disarray. Being away for so long has taken its toll. Not just on Jesse and his family, but also their island. The part-time caretaker Jesse hired has disappeared without a trace, and many of the systems that made life easier on the island for Jesse and his family needed attention. After weeks of hard work, things are finally back in order, and Jesse receives a cryptic phone call from an associate in Key West, a yacht broker, asking him to come down island and have a look at something he's discovered."