The dead woman proves to be Nicola Aguinaldo, an escapee from Coolis, an Illinois women's penitentiary. Stealing a necklace from her rich employer, Robert Baladine, for whom she worked as a nanny. Baladine heads Carnifice Security, a billion-dollar P. I. and security corporation, which runs Coolis for the state. To obtain medical treatment for her sick baby, who died during Nicola's incarceration. Braving threats to business, reputation and life, V. I. investigates Nicola's death.
Unlikely allies surface, as well as surprising perpetrators.
Finally, all clues lead to Coolis, the women's prison. An arrest on a trumped-up kidnapping charge lands V. I. in Coolis. Once there, V. I. realizes the prison holds the mystery's key. She refuses bail to stay in Coolis and solve the case. In Hard Time V.I. fights not only for answers, but also for her life against the greed and power creating the darkness and horror of the prison.