Late afternoon, Virginia, and a woman is on the run. Her husband, a former US Senator named Lincoln Bowe, has been missing for days. Kidnapped? Murdered? She doesn't know - but she thinks she knows who's involved, and why. And that she may be next. Hours later, Jake Winter's mobile phone rings. An Army Intelligence veteran, Winter specializes in 'forensic bureaucracy'. The Pentagon, the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security - when something goes wrong, Winter kicks over rocks until he finds out what really happened. The White House is his main client, and the chief of staff is on the phone now. If Bowe isn't located soon, all hell will break loose. All hell breaks loose anyway when the blackened body shows up, barb-wired to a tree, missing its head. Just what did Bowe know that got him killed? And who exactly are the mysterious Watchmen shadowing Winter's every move? Can he survive long enough to find out?