The Cornish village of St. Petroc is the sort of place where people come to hide. Tom Killgannon is one such person. An ex–undercover cop, Tom is in the Witness Protection Program hiding from some very violent people, and St. Petroc offers him a chance to live a safe and quiet life.

Until he meets Lila. Lila is a seventeen-year-old runaway. When she breaks into Tom's house, she takes more than just his money. His wallet holds everything about his new identity. He also knows that Lila is in danger from the travelers' commune she has been living at. Something sinister has been going on there, and Lila knows more than she realizes. But to find her, he risks not only giving away his location to the gangs he's in hiding from but also becoming a target for whoever is hunting Lila.