When Australian Federal Agent Brandon Munro walked out on his wife without a word of explanation, he had no idea the price would be so high. Alex Cavanaugh's world fell apart the night Brandon told her their marriage was over. Devastated over his refusal to tell her why and unwilling to keep him by her side out of a sense of duty, she conceals from him her pregnancy.

Ambitious newspaper journalist Savannah O'Neill will do anything for a story, even if it means pretending to be a prostitute in Sydney's most exclusive brothel. She's there on a tip-off that underage girls are being held illegally and kept compliant with illicit drugs. What's more, unidentified bodies of young women have turned up in Sydney Harbour, and at least one of them is linked to the brothel. Detective Will Rutledge has vowed to destroy the man he holds responsible for his brother's suicide.

When 10-year-old Andy Warwick witnesses the murder/suicide of his sister and father, his world is torn apart. Twenty years later, despite his tragic childhood, Andy's a highly respected police negotiator based in North Sydney. He's living a comfortable life, but still suffers from guilt-ridden nightmares from his past and yearns for a family to replace the one he lost.

At 14, Kate Collins ran away from home. Ten years later, her mother has disappeared without a trace. Faced with no other choice, she returns home. Kate is convinced her stepfather is responsible, but he is a highly decorated police officer. Who will take her accusations seriously? Banished to a small country town after reporting his city superiors for corruption, Detective Riley Munro is never going to accuse the town's recently retired police commander of murder. But Kate's fear and distress seem genuine.

Detective Sergeant Chase Barrington has never forgotten his high school sweetheart. He and Josie Munro planned to marry as soon as she graduated, but fate stepped in and Chase made the painful decision to end it. Unable to find the courage to tell her the truth, he left town without a word of explanation. A decade after graduating high school, Doctor Josie Munro, child psychologist, has recently returned to her hometown.