The American Southwest is in a skirmish for dwindling shares of the Colorado River. As a Las Vegas water knife, Angel “cuts” water for his boss, Catherine Case, ensuring that her lush, luxurious developments can bloom in the desert so the rich can stay wet, while the poor get nothing but dust. When rumors of a game-changing water source surface in drought-ravaged Phoenix, Angel is sent to investigate. There, he encounters Lucy Monroe, a hardened journalist with every reason to hate Angel, and Maria Villarosa, a young Texas refugee who survives by her wits and street smarts in a city that despises everything that she represents.