Rudy Schmidt is consumed by thoughts of Nora Hartmann. Widow of his lifelong friend and business partner, she is everything he has ever desired in a woman. Neither his pudgy wife nor the many women with whom he has had affairs can match her style, grace, and beauty. Why can't she understand the two of them are destined to be together?

Rudy schemes to overcome Nora's resistance. Is she denying her innate attraction to him out of loyalty to his wife, who is Nora's closest friend? Rudy arranges for his wife to die. Is she worried about the effect their union would have on her troubled teenaged daughter, who is still in deep mourning for her father? Rudy uses all his charm to make the girl his ally. Is Nora too engrossed in her small specialty shop to realize that her rightful place is with Rudy in the family business? He makes plans to burn the shop down. A final roadblock to their mutual happiness remains: Nora's new lover. Rudy plots to eliminate him.

Nora recognizes Rudy for the dangerous predator he has become. Before she can convince the authorities to take her seriously, however, Rudy makes the final descent into madness. Continually frustrated by Nora's rejections, he reasons that if he cannot possess her in this life, he will settle for the eternal bonds of the next. He sets his trap, using Nora's daughter as bait. Cornered, Nora must summon an arsenal of ingenuity, courage, and fierce resolve to fight for her own life and that of her child.