Trouble Brewing

Imagine a young, intelligent woman who has immigrated to the United States in hopes of living the American dream. She has put herself through school and finally found her first real job. Success seems to be almost within her grasp, but then something goes wrong. The whole world has gone completely nuts, and her little universe seems to be where all of the lunatics are converging.

Candi Rios is a magnet for trouble, a spiritual hot spot where the forces of nature do battle every day. Her magic is strong but always very unpredictable. As a result, her life is a continuous rollercoaster of thrills, a fast-paced combination of comedy, mystery, and romance.

Candi is a young accountant taking the first step down a rosy path. She lands her first real job, and suddenly the future looks bright. Then Candi learns that the man who hired her has just been brutally murdered. She finds herself in the middle of a tangled web of deceit and danger not knowing who to trust.

Being independent and resourceful, Candi decides to figure out what is going on. She meets a mysterious stranger named Rico Altamar. At first, she thinks Rico is just another friend of her brother. The guy is unusually handsome and gentlemanly on the surface, but underneath there is a hard edge. Most assume that he is just another spoiled rich kid. But this is far from the truth, as Candi soon discovers.

Two other Colombians, Pablo Payaso and his brother Eddy, have been working on a clever scheme to get rich by smuggling some herbal tea laced with tiny amounts of cocaine. They had been conspiring with the manager who was murdered to distribute it through a medical supply company. But they are very angry because someone has been ripping them off, and they don't plan on leaving until they find their money.

The Colombians find out that their best customer is a local evangelical church. The charismatic reverend has introduced the strangely addictive herbal tea into their regular services and the congregation is growing like crazy. Their behavior is also a little crazy and unpredictable at times, but that just makes them even more popular with the local media. Reverend Charles Boggs and Our Lady of the Sacred Nuts has now become the latest sensation. Donations are pouring in by the millions. Pablo and Eddy decide to keep an eye on the nut people in case they are the key to the missing loot.

One fateful night, everyone converges by happenstance at the same location and chaos ensues. Two men from the church break into a warehouse in pursuit of more tea and exchange gunfire with the two Colombians. Candi is also there to investigate some accounting irregularities and gets caught in the middle of the action. While there, she also accidentally stumbles upon Rico searching a dark office. The aftermath sets in motion a chain of events that binds them all together in pursuit of the truth.

Candi presses her co-workers to help sort out the accounting, and Rico calls on his friends to provide some additional support. Their most valuable ally turns out to be a newly trained DEA puppy eager to show off his sniffing skills and make new friends. Like all animals, the dog has a particular affection for Candi.

To complicate things even more, the sudden wave of money and excitement has also attracted others anxious for a piece of the pie, including the young mistress of the Reverend Boggs, a coven of wannabe vampires, and a couple of very ambitious exotic dancers. Another wild card is the man who has taken over as Candi's new supervisor. Is he now part of the plan or a competitor? Or even worse, could he be a psychopath who murdered his boss and another young girl?

The thrills and confusion of all these overactive imaginations continually cross the wires of Candi and Rico as they struggle to solve the mysteries. Can they persevere and eventually unmask the killer? Or will they become the next victims?