Two beat cops are machine-gunned down in one of the most brutal crimes St. Louis has ever seen. Did they simply pull over the wrong reckless driver, or did someone target these two for a more sinister reason? Lieutenant George Hastings is the primary investigator on the case, along with his detective Bobby Cain, an inexperienced but connected detective who is ambitious and impolitic. Hastings and Cain dissect the lives of the two murdered officers, focusing in on one officer after they learn that he did a year-long undercover stint with narcotics and helped put away one of the biggest meth dealers in the area. But what they uncover is much bigger than one dealers revenge, and much more personal.