Federal Prosecutor Brendan Black just blew the biggest case of his career. His key witness in a conspiracy trial against Northern Lights Cruise Lines has disappeared from the U.S. courthouse in Los Angeles. In desperation, Black turns to Jesse Barrett. Once notorious as a chameleon-like assassin, Barrett lives quietly with Kristin, the beautiful federal agent who is said to have reformed him. They soon stumble onto a connection between Northern Lights and Barrett's old paymaster, an infamous drug trafficker known as Skylord. But when Barrett heads for Manila to track down the missing witness, Kristin is kidnapped to South America.

Could Skylord be her captor? While Black's courtroom pyrotechnics lead him inside one of America's most secretive families, Barrett leaves a trail of dead bodies in pursuit of Kristin. As the chase careens into a daring lone assault in the Montana badlands, Skylord probes the depths of honor, loyalty and love.