It is the waning years of World War II, and Second Lieutenant Franklin Boone has just arrived at his new post, a small U.S. Army fort called Fort Miles. The fort is located in Southern Delaware, along the shores of the Delaware Bay, and is the last line of defense against the threat of German U-boats that might want to attack the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington. Franklin's assignment is to research and develop the Army's metal detection technology. His research finds him working not only in a laboratory, but also out on the dunes that surround the fort. The dunes, however, are unique in that they ebb and flow with the changing weather, and can be completely different from one day to the next. While testing his metal detectors out on the dunes, Franklin inadvertently discovers a gold coin, and within a few weeks has found that the shoreline around his new home is littered with buried treasures. The more treasure he finds, the more he wants to be out on the dunes. But he also finds it difficult to control his desire for more precious metals. Soon enough, Franklin is approached by a local man named Israel Mouzellas, who has been secretly watching Franklin. Israel explains to Franklin that he too is currently on a treasure hunt, but it's not just for some random gold or silver coins. In fact, Israel is looking for an old sailing yacht that was run aground two decades earlier during a hurricane. On the boat was apparently many cases of rum, a box of gold bars, and unfortunately for Israel, his father who was in the process of plundering the boat when it was run aground and then swallowed by the dunes. Franklin agrees to join Israel in his quest, but soon finds that the man he has chosen to work with has a past that is shadowed in secrets and violence. But the thought of all the gold on the ship keeps Franklin working with Israel. When the two finally find the boat, it is not what they had hoped, and suddenly Franklin is caught in the middle of surrounding forces that are not hesitant to use violence to get what they want.
