Meanwhile homicide sergeant Cate Mora is searching for 13 year old runaway Rolo Ortiz, whose mother has been wrongfully imprisoned. Rolo's body is found in the bed of Texas' lieutenant governor. Reles and Mora, through their investigations, find a connection between the two tragedies with revelations about an extreme religious sect and political corruption.

This tightly plotted story is of politics and religion gone wrong, whenever man has to battle untold odds to clear his name. The characters are finely drawn with attention given to the struggle against desires and weaknesses, especially Reles, who is filled with anger against hypocrisy.