Plagued by strange premonitions and recurring nightmares, New Orleans College student Anna Picard fears that she is losing her mind, following the same path as her schizophrenic mother. Earning money as a palm-reader in Jackson Square, she discovers that she knows things about those whose hands she touches, leading her to conclude that, rather than psychotic, she may be psychic. Meanwhile, the body of a murdered girl- an unusual tattoo on its abdomen- comes across the autopsy table of forensic pathologist Ross Robillard. Before leaving on vacation, he discovers that the girl's father was also murdered, and that the killers were apparently seeking something of value. Both bodies were bound with an unusual knot called a stevedore knot. Robillard is assaulted by thugs at the airport, the man in charge demanding a map of which the doctor has no knowledge. Escaping amid a melee on the concourse, the doctor cancels his trim and holes up in a New Orleans hotel. When the morgue assistant who aided Robillard in the child's autopsy is murdered, along with his family, the police suspect that the pathologist is somehow involved. Having his palm read at a local fundraiser, the doctor meets Anna Picard, getting a hint of her unusual powers. When he notices that a bouquet of flowers given to her by a stranger is bound by the same distinctive knot as the two corpses, he explains the danger confronting them and insists that they stay together. Joining forces, the couple learn that Anna's recurring dream presages an upcoming terrorist event in the nation's capital. The information needed to predict the specifics of the attack is hidden within the dead girl's tattoo. With the help of FBI agent John Picard and Robillard's estranged brother Kurt, the two rush to solve the riddle and thwart the terrorist attack.