Samuel Hinton learned at the tender age of fifteen just how violent some men could be. But as a grown man, a detective with the police force in 1910, he must deal with the murder of a schoolteacher, and is shocked by the brutality. Kathleen Campbell travels to rural Florida to seek justice for her sister's death. What she finds is an instant and unexpected attraction to the handsome investigator who swears he will find the killer. Another murder fills Samuel with a sense of urgency as he struggles with the depth of his feelings for Kathleen, knowing she could be the man's next victim despite her independent spirit. And he must battle his desire to kill the man he seeks, a killing that would clash with his beliefs.