Early morning, Virginia, and a woman is on the run. Her husband, a former US Senator, has been missing for days. Kidnapped? Murdered? She doesn't know, but she thinks she knows who's involved, and why. And that she's next. Hours later in Washington DC, a mobile phone rings. The White House chief of staff needs Jake Winter NOW. His chief investigator and an Army Intelligence veteran, Winter knows how to move quickly and decisively, but he's never faced a problem like this. The disappearances are bad, but when the blackened body shows up barb-wired to a tree, Winter knows there is much worse to come. Large forces are at work, determined to do whatever it takes to achieve their ends. Winter will have to use all his resources not only to prevail, but to survive. The safety of the nation depends on it ...