In the emotional aftermath of her baby's sudden death, Emily starts running. Soon she runs from her husband, to the airport, down to the Florida Gulf and out to the loneliest stretch of Vermillion Key, where her father has offered the use of a conch shack he has kept there for years. Emily keeps up her running, barefoot on the beach, sneakers on the road, and sees virtually no one. This is doing her all kinds of good, until one day she makes the mistake of looking into the driveway of a man with a secret he's willing to kill to protect.