Expelled from the army for his role in a brutal Native American massacre, Jack has carved out a solitary life as sheriff of the growing river town of New Madrid, Missouri. When a young girl named Abigail Duncan goes missing, Jack is forced to delve into the town's secrets and confront his feelings for the girl's mother, Sarah. But when a firebrand preacher named Elijah Prescott and a city-raised Native American named Chata arrive and offer to help find the young girl, Jack is unsure of their motives. Neither is who they claim to be. Even Sarah seems to be hiding things from him, and Jack begins to fear the preacher's criticism of her bold and uncompromising demeanor. As Jack works to solve the mystery of Abbie's disappearance, he must fend off Prescott's growing influence in the town, keep law and order in the face of wanted gunslingers, discover the truth behind Sarah's secrets... and prove that people are not always ruled by their past.