Jack’s arrival does not go unnoticed. A young woman named Semelee, who lives in an isolated area of the Everglades with a group of misshapen men, senses his arrival. She senses that he's "special," like her.

Anya takes Jack back to Dad's senior community, Gateways South which borders on the Everglades. Florida is going through an unusual drought. There's a ban on watering; everything is brown and wilting, but Anya’s lawn is a deep green.

Who is Anya? Who is Semelee and what is her connection to the strange deaths of Gateways residents—killed by birds, spiders, and snakes—during the past year? And what are the "lights" Jack keeps hearing about—lights that emanate twice a year from a sinkhole deep in the Everglades?

These are questions Jack must answer, and there are secrets he must uncover if he is to protect his father from being the next fatality at Gateways. Along the way he learns that even his father has secrets.