Taylor has a boyfriend, Jax, a musician, and she and turtle seem somewhat settled as a family having moved in with Jax. On a trip to rand Canyon they witness a man fall into a drainae channel at the Hoover dam. As a result the man is rescued and Turtle (and Taylor) are invited to appear on Oprah. Watching the broadcast is Annawake Fourkiller, a cherokee lawyer, who recognises Turtle as being Cherokee and things there is something fishy about the adoption story. Indan kids are not supposed to be adopted without the approval of the tribal council in order to preserve their culture.

Annawake tracks them down and tells Taylor that the adoption is probably leally flawed and shouldn't have been allowed if there are any living relatives, and Turtle may have to be given back.

This causes Taylor to go on the run as she can't let that happen. After some adventures spiralling down, livin in cheap motels with deadend jobs and mounting shortae of money, Taylors Mum, Alice, determines to go to the Cheroke nation and talk to Annawake.There she finds a new life, or is tricked into one, and persuades Taylor to come and face the music.