When sixteen-year-old Hannah Sheraton is arrested for the murder of her stepgrandfather, the principle justice from the California Supreme courtroom, her distraught mother changes to her old university roommate, Josie Baylor-Bates, for help. Josie, once a hot-shot legal defense attorney, left the fast track behind for a little practice in Hermosa Seaside, California. But Hannah Sheraton intrigues her and, when the girl is billed as an adult, Josie cannot convert her back. However the deeper she digs the greater Josie realizes that politics, regulations and family relationships create a combustible and harmful situation. When the horrible truth can be uncovered it could conserve Hannah Sheraton or destroy them both.