Dan Mahoney, insurance investigator, lands in Tatum, New Mexico where several prize cattle on the famed Double Horseshoe Ranch have mysteriously died. The claims put a lot of money at stake for Dan' s company. But that just scratches the surface of the high jinks afoot in Tatum. And the high stakes. A surprised Dan hadn' t counted on witnessing a murder, falling in love, or becoming the pawn of federal agents. It' s the flash flood that changes everything. Could cattleman Billy Roland Eklund have set up Eric Linden, pilot and family friend, who' s caught in the roaring water? Tempted him to forfeit seven years of his life for two million dollars? And then had him killed? Or was it the lovely Elaine, Linden' s wife, who had so much to gain? Dan stumbles across secrets that implicate his sister, his employer, and what seems like half of southern New Mexico. Sucked into small town duplicity, he struggles with truth and learns that dead men can come back to haunt.