However, the Feds consider Fritz the prime suspect in the execution style murder of his friend Tavo, a 19-year-old homeless chess genius who was known to sell blood and whatever else for cash.

As Sylvia attempts to unravel the truth behind Fritz’s story and mental state she’s warned, by associate Edmond Sweetheart and colleagues, to steer clear of this boy who already has a history of drugs, lies and manipulation for attention. Sylvia’s drawn to his vulnerability—as hard as he tries to hide it—and she recognizes his rage—she was abandoned by her father, too. Plus, he can make her laugh.

But the more she aims for boundaries, the deeper she finds herself drawn into the shadowy world of Nick Christi and his enigmatic assistant, Ivan Weeks. Christi, a reclusive and ailing billionaire, seems to be losing his grip on both his health and his pharmaceutical empire, including the new trauma drug KAIROS. Meanwhile, Ivan Weeks, revealed to have connections with foreign intelligence, seems to be manipulating events from behind the scenes. Is he working with a bio-virologist from LANL and his tech-transfer company in Santa Fe? There are certainly enough bad guys in the mix.

Sylvia grapples with her own past, particularly the mystery of her military father’s disappearance fifteen years ago. She’s hired an investigator to track down clues, but someone else is feeding her frightening clues late at night. Who is her anonymous caller and what do they know about her father?  She learned long ago to compartmentalize the wounds of his desertion. But that’s not true for her mother who longs to know the truth—and who also may be in danger. On top of this, the last thing Sylvia needs is to be named in a lawsuit filed by Vivien Thorn, Fritz’s dramatic mother—accusing Dr. Strange of unlawfully treating her disturbed minor son.

Watching Fritz implicate himself on one hand and save his father on the other, Sylvia follows him to remote, almost abandoned, movie set where her father may have been in hiding. In a tense confrontation, the truth emerges in a standoff between Sylvia, a gun-wielding Fritz, Ivan Adder, and, in the shadows, another gunman—leaving one man dead.

The story concludes with tantalizing hints that Sylvia’s father is still alive but has chosen not to reunite with Sylvia and her mother to keep them from danger, adding a poignant personal dimension to the resolution.