Dave Robicheaux is trying to put a life of violence & crime behind him leaving homicide to run a boat-rental business in Louisiana's bayou country. But one day while fishing in the Gulf with his wife Annie he witnesses an event that will change his life forever. A small two-engine plane suddenly crashes into the sea & Robicheaux dives down to the wreckage to find four bodies & one survivor; a little girl miraculously trapped in a pocket of air. When the authorities insist only three bodies were recovered from the plane Robicheaux decides to investigate the mystery of the missing man.