TV reporter Tiel McCoy is driving to New Mexico for a well-earned vacation when she hears the news on the radio: The teenage daughter of Forth Worth tycoon Russell Dendy has been kidnapped. Immediately, she ditches her holiday to chase down the story that could make her career.

But in a town called Rojo Flats, an innocuous stop at a convenience store thrusts her directly into the unfolding story -- and a dangerous crime drama. For inside the shop two desperate young lovers are holding a half dozen frightened hostages . . . and a powder keg of a standoff is about to test Tiel's courage, journalistic integrity, and everything she has ever believed.