It's summer in Sophie Trace, and Ethan Langley has returned home from college, eager to grow his friendship with Vanessa Jessup and her infant son, Carter. And Vanessa's parents, Police Chief Brill Jessup and her husband, Kurt, approve: Ethan is thoughtful, kind, hard-working, and ambitious.

Before Ethan has time to settle in, a series of random shootings leaves someone he loves dead. The police have no suspects. While Ethan scrambles to make sense of it, a coworker takes him aside and divulges a shocking secret that could break the case—but would imperil the lives of those Ethan's come to love. Then when the coworker is discovered dead, Ethan is pulled still deeper into the mystery. Going to the police with what he knows endangers Vanessa and Carter ... yet not telling them is just as dangerous. He's been dealt a risky hand in a game for which he doesn't know the rules. Will he make the right call?