After the shattering conclusion to his research into an Oregon family's fortune and treachery, professor Paul Fischer attempts a fresh start in Maine. But when his office and apartment are ransacked and he's blindsided by an assailant, Paul realizes that the saga of legendary pioneer Katie Baker is far from over. He heads back to Oregon's Rogue River valley to unearth the secrets still buried there.

Forced to confide in the beautiful attorney who ruthlessly used him once before to prove her claim to the Baker millions, Paul becomes aware of someone stalking them both. Running from something dark and infinitely deadly, he relentlessly dodges a shadow figure willing to murder to claim a dead woman's secrets. Paul knows that to survive he must outsmart a brilliant and dangerous enemy long enough to find out what Katie Baker was so desperate to hide. . .and why.