Paula Cooper, a paralegal from Georgetown, SC, gets into serious trouble working for an attorney, J. Thomas Denby, when she is asked to participate in a blackmail plot. Paula reluctantly attends Judge Parks' annual Christmas party in Charleston, SC, where she is to entice the justice, who is separated from his wife, into an incriminating embrace, but before she can complete her mission things go terribly wrong. The love of Paula's boyfriend, Jim Roberts, an antique dealer she met the previous summer, is tested because of what she has done. She faces the possibility of losing her boyfriend, and criminal charges. The FBI investigative team of Dibbs and Mendez are assigned the case and discover that there are many suspects in a double murder. The suspenseful intrigue is captivating as they attempt to apprehend an elusive assassin within the picturesque, "Holy City," of Charleston. Paula provides assistance to authorities and seeks redemption from a bad decision, as she tries to keep her special man.