On the run from Chicago authorities, John Milton is a wanted felon. His life, as he knew it, will never be the same. He guards deadly secrets in hope of preserving his future, but he won't let go of the past. Coalwater is an intricate and mysterious game of cat-and-mouse between Milton, a crooked politician, an investigator at the end of an undistinguished career, and a puppet master pulling all the strings. Millions of dollars are missing with the click of a button--retrievable by only one man. When Milton disappears, the case goes cold--until an episode of America's Most Wanted thaws the icy chill of an open murder investigation. An unsubstantiated call to the show's hotline instigates a manhunt leading to the quiet an unsuspecting Wyoming town of Coalwater ellipses.