A young model named Alana Martin has vanished from a glitzy party on South Beach, and cops want to question Rick Slater, formerly Army Special Forces, now a driver for an influential U.S. congressman--and the last person seen with her. Miami defense attorney C.J. Dunn has reasons to dislike Slater's boss, but if she takes this case, the congressman can get her a job hosting a show on a major news outlet. For a woman who grew up dirt-poor, the celebrity life has its appeal. C.J. hopes to make the case go away quickly, but the story is too hot. Reporters and paparazzi descend, and soon C.J. finds herself in the glare of the spotlight. When Rick Slater tells her that a friend of Alana's could be his alibi, C.J. realizes the girl is someone she knows: Kylie Willis, a seventeen-year-old runaway from the same north Florida town where C.J. was born. The problem is, Kylie won't talk, and Slater isn't coming clean either. C.J. finds a disturbing connection between Alana and a pornographer who uses underage girls. Is Kylie involved too? Or is the truth more about Alana's link to a group of investors in a project on environmentally sensitive land? One of them is a VIP client of C.J.'s elusive architect, Milo Cahill, who may be bribing the congressman. Another is C.J.'s lover, Billy Medina. But when C.J. asks Billy for answers, he claims not to know. Seductive as Billy is, his love of the lush life is dangerous for a woman who's trying to stay sober. The disappearance turns to a homicide, and C.J. wonders if she can trust Rick Slater, a man she is drawn to, a man with secrets of his own. As the media close in, C.J. weighs her desire for fame against the risk of losing everything she values most.