Fire Captain Gerry Ormond is launched to national prominence and receives the prestigious Governor General's Medal of Valor. He visits his hometown after a twenty year absence and unwittingly unleashes a killer--a vengeful arsonist with ties to an old murder and theft of a treasure by a teenage fraternity. Gerry was one of the frat members. Karen, his high school sweetheart, ignites a dangerous obsession. Her husband looks good for a recent arson/murder. Nick Modano, ex-fraternity president, now ruthless drug dealer, is the only other participant in the old crime. Nick never forgets or forgives Gerry for running out on him during their old crime. Samantha 'Sam' Markham, a crack fire investigator, begins to hound Gerry, believing his past is connected to the present crime wave. For Gerry, the almost forgotten past has risen from the ooze and taken on a life of its own. As a man used to chaos control, he is powerless to close the door to his evil past. Admitting his old crime will help track down the arsonist but it could also destroy him. I t's a tightrope he walks in a town where old friends are now enemies.