Yet when a southern fugitive saves the life of Annie Morrison’s brother, Will, they feel they should return the favor and hide the man on their family’s rural homestead. Annie’s abolitionist friend, Louisa, encourages her to continue to help those traveling the ‘Underground Railroad,’ but Annie is fearful of the danger…until she meets Isaiah Hawkins.

Isaiah is a ‘watcher’ who works on the ferry boats looking for those who might steal the captain’s cargo. Little does the captain know, Isaiah is secretly transporting ‘cargo’ of his own. Except Annie derails his plans when she takes in the fugitive he was meant to escort, and Isaiah must convince her to work with him to get the Underground Railroad back on track.
As Annie helps Isaiah ship fugitives across the Hudson River to New York, her attraction toward the handsome young man grows. But when she sees him aid notorious slave catcher, Simon Cole, the horrid man threatening her family, past fears of betrayal rise to haunt her and she must question—is Isaiah really friend or foe?