Alisha MacAleer left the spy game months ago to settle into a normal life, but when treacherous, brilliant Brandon Parker appears on her doorstep, Alisha is forced to draw on old skills and contacts to give him the help he needs. His latest artificial intelligence project has taken an exponential leap toward self-awareness, and every agency and organization on the planet wants a piece of it. Furthermore, they don't care who they go through to get it-even if that includes Alisha's family. Furious, Alisha turns to Frank Reichart-but she's all too aware that if the only person she can trust is the ex-fiance who once shot her, the chances of making it out of an international game of cat-and-mouse alive grow increasingly slim with every step she takes. Still, she thinks she just might make it...until the one target she let get away reappears in a position of such power that it changes everything. Caught between family, duty, and the right thing to do, Alisha realizes that the only way to change the world is to bring the whole system down around her...and hope that what doesn't burn, grows stronger...