It's a beautiful fall evening in Chicago's suburbs.

The smell of burning leaves floats in the air.

And a judge and her daughter lie shot to death in their driveway.

The young man caught fleeing the scene comes from a family of drug-running gangsters and was dating the girl over her mother's objections. It looks like the county task force is about to make a solid arrest and close the case.

Wisaka Deputy Police Chief Harry Cork has a different take on the murders, however. He thinks they may be the work of a professional, a contract killer, and his investigation leads him from the quiet suburbs... to a billion dollar conspiracy... and to a threat that could destroy his life.