While cleaning out the house of her deceased mother, who was a hoarder, Liza Machett discovers a fortune in hundred-dollar bills hidden in the book stacks and magazines that crowd every corner. For Liza, a waitress, the money is a blessing— until an elderly man she's never met before warns her that she's in danger. Soon her mother's house is torched, Liza's apartment is broken into, and her elderly landlady is murdered. Terrified, Liza leaves Massachusetts and sets off on a perilous cross-country journey that will lead her to Cochise County, Arizona.

Sheriff Joanna Brady has her hands full investigating the suspicious death of a developmentally disabled man found in a cavern. Then another case rocks the department—a shocking murder involving Liza and the money. Now Joanna must solve these two disturbing cases fast, before more innocent blood is shed.