Ahalya Ghai and her younger sister Sita are as close as sisters can be. But when a tsunami rips through their village on India's Coromandel coast, their home is swept away, and the sisters are the sole survivors of their family. Destitute, their only hope is to find refuge at a convent many miles away. A driver agrees to take them. But the moment they get into that car their fate is sealed. The two sisters - confused, alone, totally reliant on each other - are sold.

On the other side of the world, Washington lawyer Thomas Clarke is struggling to cope after the death of his baby daughter and the collapse of his marriage. He takes a sabbatical from his high-pressure job and accepts a position with the Bombay branch of an international anti-trafficking group.

Thomas is now on a desperate path to try and save not only himself and his marriage, but also the lives of the two sisters.