Twenty years ago Nell Jarreau witnessed the murder of her boyfriend. Her testimony put a man behind bars and led her to her husband, Clay, the gentle detective who solved the case. They've been happy ever since and have raised a daughter together but then one phone call changes everything. New evidence has exonerated Alvin DuPree, aka Pirate the man Nell helped to convict and now he's a free man. Nell is consumed by feelings of guilt, and for the first time in their marriage, Clay is no help. The case is closed for him, this new turn of events a mistake, nothing more, and Nell's attempts to talk to him about the situation are met with anger. And to make matters worse, the whole ordeal is beginning to wear on her relationship with her daughter. Nell is determined to find the answers to her questions, though. Is DuPree, now a much-changed man, really innocent? Could Nell have been wrong all those years ago? Does her husband or her daughter know something about the case Nell doesn't? But secrets buried for twenty years tend to grow roots, to burrow deep; and they are not unearthed easily. Every answer produces more questions, and Nell's search eventually leads her to the one person she hasn't approached: the freed man himself. As the pieces fall into place, Nell realizes that the truth and very real danger could be much closer than she ever imagined.