Stone Barrington, the suave Manhattan cop-turned-lawyer, is back on his home turf facing down a brilliant Southern flimflam man. begins with what Stone believes will be a quiet dinner with his ex-partner, Dino, but they are interrupted by Billy Bob, a filthy rich, smooth-talkin' Texan, who strolls in and parks himself at their table. He's in town "to make money," he says, unwrapping his wad of rare two-dollar bills, and in need of an attorney-namely, Stone. Against his better judgment, Stone offers Billy Bob a safe haven for the night but almost immediately begins to suspect that he's made several precipitous misjudgments-for the slippery out-of-towner has gone missing and someone has been found dead-in Stone's town house no less. Stone is now caught between a beautiful federal prosecutor and a love from his past, a con man with more aliases than hairs on his head, and a murder investigation that could ruin them all.