Katherine Mary Larsson, only three years old, weeps uncontrollably when neighbors find her outside her family home, a house that has just burned to the ground. The only family she knows is her mother, who is found dead inside the structure. The neighbors care for Katherine until a woman, claiming to be a social services worker, takes her away to be placed in an orphanage. Katherine becomes Mary Ross and is taken to Oak Park, Illinois, where she resides in an unloving home with a couple whose hearts are filled with greed, self-importance and secrets. Her life is deplorable and she longs to be rescued by Harry, the older brother she never met but heard so much about from her mother. Nightmares haunt Mary, especially after she's been in the company of a businessman whose presence leaves her trembling in fear. In Chicago, Bureau of Investigation agent Hal Larsson has just been assigned to work on a case involving diamond smuggling and espionage. He works on the case, but also secretly works to complete a private investigation that he's been working on for years. He'll stop at nothing to find the answers he seeks.