Happily married with two beautiful children, successful architect and avid amateur aviator Allan Daniels finds his life plummeting into a nightmare when his wife suddenly announces that she wants a separation, maybe a divorce. Then, two days later, as he is piloting a seaplane from Long Island to Key West, the engine of his Cessna 185 seaplane sputters, then quits. Daniels's resolute skills as a pilot enable him to land safely in the Everglades, where a disheveled Miccosukee man named Tommy Handley finds him. But while Handley turns out to be from the same tribe as Daniels's mother, he also turns out to be a fugitive from justice, hiding out and evading capture in the protection of the remote swamps. When Daniels wakes in the middle of the night to find Handley groping for his wallet, Daniels defends himself--but accidentally kills his rescuer, then flees in his boat, from which locals later rescue him again. Daniels's explanation of what happened in the swamp doesn't sit well with savvy local lawman Sheriff Haskins, who suspects that Daniels is hiding something--but what? When Daniels finally confesses his guilt, it will set off a whole new chain of dire events in this fast-paced novel with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the final page.