When Phil Kramer is shot dead on a deserted suburban street in the middle of the night, his wife, Emily, is left with an emptied bank account and a lot of questions. How could Phil leave her penniless? What was he going to do with the money? And, most of all, who was he if he wasnt́ the man she thought she married? Jerry Hobart has some questions of his own. Itś none of his business why he was hired to kill Phil Kramer. But now that heś been ordered...

The Butcher's boy is a paid murderer, and after assassinating the senior Senator from Colorado, he has trouble collecting his fee. He must find out who really hired him, as must Elizabeth Waring, analyst and investigator from the Justice Department.