Attorney Barbara Holloway handles small legal problems for locals in Eugene, Oregon, while trying to sort out her own future. When pondering her next move, two desperate people show up on her doorstep: a former pro-football player and his wife, Binnie. Binnie, a mute, met her husband when she sneaked aboard his boat in Haiti and smuggled herself into the U.S. Now Immigration wants to deport her, which would be a death sentence. Binnie's only hope is to prove her and her mother's real identity. With only days to find the truth, Holloway sets off for Belize. But what she knows is only the tip of the iceberg.