Posadas County Undersheriff Bill Gastner finds himself facing a troubling case after he offers a ride to vagabond Wesley Crocker who later spends the night on the high school athletic field. The next morning, the body of thirteen-year-old Maria Ibarra is found under the high-school football bleachers a few feet away and Wesley is immediately arrested. Bill believes the man is innocent and when a popular student is killed in a car accident, Bill and his protégé Estelle Reyes-Guzman must uncover the truth behind what really happened to Maria.