Mike returns from his travels to find that half the inhabitants of Bridehaven have left the town due to a group of racketeers who have the place gripped in fear. And they now own the debt Mike owed for the purchase of his boat.
Mike takes the law into his own hands when Steve is accused of the murder of his wheeler-dealing uncle, Martin. Tensions mount as Mike's jealousy over Melanie's new boss, Nick, threatens to cloud his judgement.
Mike and Melanie are thrown together in peril when they confront escaped convict Harry Badden and his brothers in an isolated cottage. Charlie has a broken arm and his daughter, Mollt, is diabetic and needing insulin shots.
Mike falls for a visiting journalist, Sara, but Melanie is uneasy about their fledgling relationship, believing the reporter may be using him to get information for her latest story. Her suspicions are heightened by a series of break-ins. Meanwhile, in a seemingly unconnected incident, a tenant at Tony's caravan site begins an increasingly violent war with him, over the provision of facilities. At the same time, a property developer's boat is broken into.
Following a storm an amnesiac Asian woman is found on the beach. While Steve finds himself falling for her, Mike and Melanie begin to search for the answers to who she is, and why she was on a wrecked boat. As the answers emerge, they have are left with a race against time to find a group of illegal immigrants who have tuberculosis.
Mike is thrown into emotional turmoil when the father he has never met returns to Bridehaven. Meanwhile, Tony is supposed to be looking after his nephew, and the town's football team, managed by George, has reached the local final.