Past and present explode in murder.

A counter-terrorist organization stops the murder of a French politician in the Pyrenees. The would-be assassin is killed at the scene. He has a disturbing tattoo on his arm.

Eric Ward meets Ben Shaw at a bankers' dinner. Ben hires him to look into his old rival and Eric's ex-wife's probable new lover, Jason Sullivan. Jason's disappeared and so has the money for a project he was working on.

DCI Spate is looking into illegal immigration in Newcastle. He speaks to Peter Olinger, local construction magnate, who seems a little shady and has large gambling debts. What's he hiding?

What connects the three strands is very dark and dangerous indeed.