Veteran Chicago Police Detective Mike Halloran is investigating a decades-old cold case of a dismembered teenage girl when he's summoned to police HQ by his old partner and present Chief of Detectives, Syl Ortiz. Her daughter-and Halloran's goddaughter-has been kidnapped. A violent ex-con snatches Ortiz's 16-year-old daughter and launches a successful ransom plot. Halloran and his FBI cold case partner Juan Ochoa track the kidnapper down to a North Side basement apartment, but the kidnapper escapes after a shootout that leaves the FBI agent wounded and Halloran frustrated and angry. Halloran and Ochoa catch the kidnapper as Halloran's partner tracks down the killer in the cold case. Both cases reach stunning conclusions that leave the reader satisfied and wanting more.