As Denver lawyer Adam Larsen and his legal assistant enter a wealthy client's mansion for an evening appointment, they are literally blown off their feet. The bomb in her private bathroom killed her instantly--and leaves Adam wondering why she wanted so urgently to meet with him. Known to her many enemies as The Empress, mining magnate Helen Emerson had been in the midst of a bitter dispute with a coal miners union, and now her children persuade Adam to fight their battle for them. He soon finds himself embroiled in hostile negotiations, receiving death threats, and dealing with a gun-toting femme fatale. And then matters get complicated...