Zach worried about bringing trouble home with him when he got back to Lakeridge, North Carolina. He shouldn't have been, since it was the same trouble the Chess Club team had been dealing with for months. Zach just hadn't realized how connected it all was. Corporate espionage, diplomatic entanglements, and the ability to disrupt everything both on and off planet hangs in the balance.

Being an ambassador's kid was one way to see the world. Being an investigative reporter was another, and Zach was more comfortable moving than putting down roots, but planting roots is what he finds himself doing as the pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place.

To complicate matters, Zach finds himself caught between an old flame and a new. Felicity Kane, a fellow journalist, feels like she owes Zach for needing his help on the case. Serafina Morgan doesn't want anything to do with the man who had broken her heart in high school - that keeps coming in to her cafe and flirting. Or is he just being friendly?

While the Chess Club team works to bring the powerful to justice, Zach has to decide if he's going to stay, or run away once more.