When a middle-aged white man has a terrifying, deadly chance encounter with an older Black man on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, it leads him on an epic search for answers. Harrison Ovitz – a quick witted, ice cream guzzling, pot smoking, classical music loving and compassionate fund raiser for an organization dedicated to preventing the trauma of child abuse – reaches out for help to solve the mystery, first from his police officer friend, then from his rich and rebellious big sister, and finally from the man who once was his most feared bully in middle school. Risking the best-paying job he’s ever had, Harrison’s search leads first to Port Chicago where, 55 years earlier, 50 Black sailors had been courtmartialed and sent to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. His odyssey then moves from California to Georgia, and finally to Hawaii, where the answer to Harrison’s obsession to understand what he experienced is finally – and shockingly – revealed.

As his search for answers leads him closer to the truth, he unexpectedly uncovers some from his own past.