After two years of pandemic people are touchy. Violence is everywhere. Fear and anxiety run wild. Jess has a scary encounter with a man in the woods and then a blow-up that threatens her closest friendships. Her husband, FBI Agent Scott Cooper, investigates a school shooting he thinks might be the start of a bigger terrorism campaign.

A lead in that case takes Scott and Jess to the mountains of western Virginia as a snowstorm moves in. While there, a school bus disappears. The driver is found dead by the road, but where is the bus and, more importantly, the kids?

Jess and Scott, along with Jess's dog Luke, join the sheriff in the hunt. The elderly Miss Etta provides a clue but is she reliable? Scott's intelligence, Jess's grit, and Nate's wisdom all must come into play to save the kids. In the end, Nate's comment that "People ain't always what they seem," proves dead accurate.