Peyton Sawyer loses her position as a homicide detective in the Chicago Police Department. She and her partner, Kent Dotson, refuse to stand down when investigating a local crime boss and are fired. Peyton is evicted from her apartment on the same day and learns that her Aunt Emily has been kidnapped. She heads to California to help her only living relative. Once she arrives, she teams up with the local sheriff, Blake Beldon, to locate her aunt and to see who is responsible for her disappearance. Will they find her aunt in time, or is she already dead? A widow of less than one year, Peyton has found herself in a financial crisis due to her husband's extensive medical bills, so when she is fired and evicted, then receives a letter from her aunt asking for help, Peyton jumps at the lifeline offered to her.