Sheriff Colby Tate learns that he has an unexpected challenger in the upcoming local election. But time to prepare is cut short by a series of events that bring danger, deceit, and death to his Ozark county and uncertainty to his personal life. When two bodies are discovered at a local hotel, Tate is drawn into an international scheme that makes the citizens of Crayton, Missouri the target of a ruthless South American cartel. As Tate launches an investigation into the murders, his bosses on the county commission discover funds missing from a key budget account--seemingly redirected to personal use. Enter Loretta Gilreath, a girl who grew up with Tate during his hardscrabble days as a boy on Huckleberry Ridge. Loretta is convinced that she, rather than Tate's fiancé Grace, is the right person for him to settle down with and she believes she knows how to convince him.