Before a second investigation in Shreveport is even completed, Pam Robinson receives a phone call from ATF Director Rick Conroe. "This was a big one," he tells her. A truck bomb has devastated the U.S. Border Patrol facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Working with a chemical analyst from the National Response Team, she discovers new sophistication on the part of the unknown attackers. In Washington, the Senate confirms Ken Cunningham as the new ATF Deputy Director, placing him in the position Pam had turned down. In Dallas, Pam's personal life swings up and down over an adoring police officer who's almost ten years her junior. An unexpected event requires her return to Washington on temporary assignment. Will it remain temporary?