April 1861. As war looms, Lorena McKenzie's battle begins at home. Heir to two indebted estates after her father's death, Lorena struggles to fend off cutthroat bankers determined to seize The Pines, her family's renowned South Carolina horse farm. Her Lincolnite mother could help, but she refuses, insisting that Lorena move to Baltimore to wed a properly wealthy Northern man-not the Confederate captain who has stolen her heart. So what if he writes beautiful love letters? A rich man could write beautiful cheques. Relentless, Lorena vows to have the unscrupulous bankers for breakfast with a side of grits. She decides to sacrifice Rosemount, the Virginia farm, to save The Pines. Until a Confederate spymaster comes calling, disclosing her father's dangerous promises regarding Rosemount that may be important to ending the war. The South's only chance is superior intelligence. If an early treaty isn't struck, the South's gardens will sprout tombstones instead of cabbages. Reluctantly, Lorena agrees to serve as a courier and spy called the Rain Crow, hoping to help save lives on both sides-including the man she loves. But deception has its price, in the form of a Pinkerton agent-with a deadly obsession.