The Ft. Lauderdale-to-Bermuda race is one of the most important in the world of yacht racing, and Robert Cramm, scion of an old family of Newport yacht builders, is determined to win it with Siren, a gleaming new boat with a very controversial, possibly dangerous design. His partner is to be his wife, Cheryl, but on the eve of the race, she is unexpectedly called home to take care of their small daughter, who has fallen ill. Replacing his wife with Beth, his attractive assistant with whom he has been rumored to be having an affair, Cramm sets off for glory. Days later, in the early predawn hours, Siren disappears from radar screens in a mysterious explosion. Burned remnants of the yacht, as well as Beth's body, are found by rescue workers - and Beth is discovered to have been three months pregnant. There is no trace of Robert Cramm's corpse. Late one evening at their Newport mansion, Cheryl Cramm is struggling with her grief when the telephone rings. She watches as her little daughter races to answer it and is stunned when the child begins to hum a lullaby she'd only sung with her father. Then the line goes dead. Is Robert Cramm really dead? Or is someone trying to push Cheryl over the edge in order to take control of the Cramm fortune? When Cheryl discovers that the family company is virtually bankrupt, she must confront the devastating possibility that the accident was an elaborate hoax. Is she to become her husband's next victim?