Touring Mayan ruins and painted colonial cities, enigmatic tour-guide Skip Rhodes, and his friend Kuul Balthazar, stumble across a dying man with a secret. A secret sought after by foreign governments and even the corrupt American president. The chase begins, taking them across the jungled Yucatan peninsula from the quaint, alleyed streets of old town Campeche to the vibrant, cultural center of the modern Mayan world, Merida.

Pursued by an old flame- Daria Ahmadi, an Iranian MOIS agent- a bungling squad of Guatemalan Presidential Guards, and a Chinese recovery team, Skip, Kuul, and their companions, Lilac Williams and Toni Wathatewa, uncover the true value of an ancient artifact belonging to the Mayan Red Queen of Palenque.

The chase leads back to Sedona, Arizona, where a final confrontation among the red rock canyons exposes surprising betrayals, Skip's mysterious past, and the depths of previously unknown relationships.