The time is September of 2008. The place is Ojinaga, Mexico. Observing the peaceful beauty and outward normalcy of the pueblo, you could not tell that bad things are happening. Capitan Benito Escalante is called home from a weekend visit in Texas because of two unusually brutal murders. One perpetrator, a gringo covered in his victim's blood, is behind bars. The other is, for now, still in the wind. As the capitan says, "Crime doesn't stop because the police captain is busy." Who is the woman claiming to be the gringo prisoner's friend? What do a box containing a fifty-year-old mystery, a man...

Before the sun has a chance to rise on the majesty of Big Bend country, sheriff's deputies Ricos and George are called to the Rio Grande near the Texas resort town of Lajitas, where there is an informal crossing point. A dead body has been found at the edge of the river on the U.S. side. Later that day, a severed foot is reported by fishermen farther upstream. Then there's a burning wreck, a series of break-ins, and a new truck is stolen. A large stash of cocaine is discovered. Then another. "Stereotypical Mexican drug dealers" are seen hanging out in the Ghost Town. A handsome special agent...

It's March in Terlingua and the weather is playing games-icy one day and warmish a few days later. But the weather is not the problem. The trouble begins with a Photoshopped picture of Deputy Ricos and Sheriff Ben that makes an innocent encounter look like something it's not. Someone is making a problem where none exists. Why? Mix in the brutal murder of quiet man "everyone likes," a young, green-eyed deputy trainee, a wealthy, mysterious newcomer to Alpine, a prostitute from Mexico, and a local ranch where it appears something "wrong" is happening. Then stir in a cast of characters you will...