Criminal defense attorney Carol Anne Gibson and her corporate lawyer husband have rapidly ascended to the top of their respective fields. Financially secure and well respected, they nevertheless feel their lives are out of control. He's concerned about the scruples of his top client and she feels she has comprised her principles in order to succeed. They both decide to quit their jobs, and the day her husband resigns, he is killed in a senseless mugging. Arising from grief, she plunges into an investigation that takes her from the corridors of Washington to Louisiana's bayous. She uncovers a sinister environmental conspiracy involving money, race and secret family ties that has her racing to unmask the killer before she becomes the next victim.