Southern California, May 1970. In the turmoil following Nixon' s Cambodia invasion and the Kent State killings, a young economics professor is killed in a campus bombing. Authorities conclude she was an unintended victim and arrest a known radical. Case closed. Nearly two years have passed when an old hippie says, " The Claremont bombings, the FBI pigs got it all wrong." to Jimmy Sommes, a San Bernardino County homicide investigator, and country-rock fiddler, at one of Jimmy' s gigs. Sommes and Claremont Detective Carol Loomis, look into the case and realize that things are not as they seem. Shadowy figures emerge, including Collins, a vicious but troubled hitman. Was it a cleverly disguised murder? Jimmy and Carol, both enmeshed in improbable romantic relationships with characters who are possible suspects, believe the answer may be found on Baseline Road, a lonely stretch of highway that time has forgotten.