Charlie has a dark, hidden past. It includes an early induction into a troupe of young shoplifters and the accidental death of childhood mentor and troupe leader, Bill Edwards. Since Bill's death, Charlie has tried to settle into a more normal life and to walk the straight and narrow. This despite frequent, intrusive thoughts whispered in Bill' s familiar voice.

When Charlie travels from Indiana to Colorado to house-sit for big brother Tom, it triggers a series of unexpected events that throw Charlie into a desperate fight to rescue Tom's young daughter, Alex, from the clutches of a gang of international criminals.