Sam Crisp and her team in New York City must find a way to defend a man accused of murdering his wife, while Kit Castleman and her grandfather, Ike Cobb, represent a surgeon in Birmingham, Alabama, whose wife and children are missing. As drug cartels in Mexico and Colombia present an ever-present threat, Sam's team navigates the CIA, the DEA, and the U.S. Attorney's Office in an effort to free their client and avoid the cartel's deadly retribution. With evidence appearing to conclusively indicate that the surgeon has contracted to have his wife and children found, Kit and Ike, with help from Djuan Barnes, Sam's retired FBI adopted brother, manipulate a surprising resolution to the Alabama mystery.