At first, the girl J. W. Jackson encounters strolling alone along South Beach seems like your typical teenager. But there's nothing typical about young Cricket Callahan, the spirited only daughter of the vacationing President of the United States. What ex-cop-turned fisherman Jackson can't figure out is why the feisty First Kid is so intent upon eluding her Secret Service guardians. . .or why the Chief Executive himself wants J. W. and his lovely lady Zee to watch over the errant sixteen-year-old.

The answer comes in the form of a dead body--and in the subsequent knowledge that a diabolical someone is able to crack the security surrounding Cricket as handily as J. W. cracks quahogs at a Vineyard clambake. And not even executive privilege will be able to shield the President's daughter from grievous harm, unless Jackson can root out a .vengeful killer who may be hiding among the ranks of the President's most trusted paladins.