Kate O'Dwyer thinks she is starting a new life by escaping a very bad marriage and moving with three-year-old Jennifer to Phoenix. She gets a teaching job, volunteers at a youth shelter, and falls in love with young, struggling attorney Mike Fallon. She also adopts sixteen-year-old Donna Alvarez, a refugee from poverty and delinquency. But Kate's serenity is shattered when young Donna's volatile past catches up with them all. When Kate is out one night, both Donna and little Jennifer are viciously molested by Philip Wilkott, the sociopathic son of one of Arizona's most powerful citizens. As if this violation is not unspeakable enough, it quickly becomes apparent to Kate and Mike that Wilkott is no stranger to the corrupt use of legal loopholes that eventually sets him free. Driven to desperation, Kate turns to the oldest form of justice - retribution - to stop this savage criminal who has made her worst nightmare come true. But in an unexpected and shocking turn of events, she finds herself on trial for murder. Stacked up against Kate is not only the assembled might of the Tucson district attorney's office but the full vindictive force of Wilkott's powerful family. In her defense all she has is Mike Fallon - and the truth.