Roland Ford is on the trail of a mysterious killer who is beheading CIA drone operators and leaving puzzling clues at each crime scene. His troubled friend Lindsay Rakes is afraid for her own life and the life of her son after a fellow flight crew member is killed in brutal fashion. Ford strikes an uneasy alliance with San Diego-based FBI agent Joan Taucher, haunted by what sees as the Bureau's failure to catch the 9/11 terrorists. As the killer strikes again, Ford and Taucher dash into the fray, each desperate for their own reasons - each ready to risk it all to stop the killer.