Washington Territory, 1888. With contacts on the docks and in the railroad, and with a buyers- market funneling product their way, Alma Rosales and her opium-smuggling crew are making a fortune. They spend their days moving product and their nights at the Monte Carlo, the center of Tacoma-s queer scene, where skirts and trousers don-t signify and everyone-s free to suit themselves.
Then two local men end up dead, with all signs pointing to the opium trade, and a botched effort to disappear the bodies draws lawmen to town. Alma scrambles to keep them away from her operation but is distracted by the surprise appearance of Bess Spencer-an ex-Pinkerton''s agent and Alma-s first love-after years of silence. A handsome young stranger comes to town, too, and falls into an affair with one of Alma''s crewmen. When he starts asking questions about opium, Alma begins to suspect she-s welcomed a spy into her inner circle, and is forced to consider how far she-ll go to protect her trade.
