In the summer of 2001, Julie Madigan, Zach Samualson and their college-bound daughter Amber return to Michigan for the retirement celebration of her old boss and the wedding of his younger daughter. Days before their arrival in Traverse City, police find a body, cut up and vacuum-packed, hidden in the trunk of an abandoned car. On their first night there, a young man shows up at their hotel with questions about his biological mother, a victim of a multiple murderer Julie Madigan had hoped to never think about again. Julie offers what answers she can and hopes to be done, but Amber is smitten with similar interests in forensic science.

By the end of the day on September 11, the world has watched a live terrorist attack on their televisions, tragedy has struck Julie’s family, and crime spree buds from the roots of its dark past.