A respected minister is found murdered in Bear Holler, Tennessee. His stepdaughter Belle Williams goes on the run at age fifteen...
It seems as if her dream of becoming a country singing star has ended. Belle says she killed the minister because he has raped her since age nine. She survives and supports herself by hitchhiking, lying, stealing and stripping. Nine years later she's arrested and faces life imprisonment or execution. She has supporters; her brother Jesse and his band, One Night Stand; Las Vegas Detective Frank Smith, who has fallen for her; friend Charlotte Force, and top defense attorney Oliver Force. But can they save her when the evidence against her is overwhelming?