Cutter Simmons, the young son of two FEMA architects, was a Good Samaritan in 2005 when he helped two girls escape from a mysterious house in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Five years later, following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, he nearly died trying to rescue innocent wildlife. As a college student in 2015, he struggled to come to the aid of a friend in trouble. Now, another five years have passed, and twenty-eight-year-old Cutter is a high school English teacher during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ridgebrook, Mississippi. Together with his wife, Susan, they try to save a student suspected of kidnapping an outspoken right-wing parent that was captured live on a Facebook video. Their investigation leads them into a dark world of blackmail and murder.