Hoping to escape unwanted celebrity in the aftermath of a notorious incident, Ramsey Hunt settles in the Rockies, determined to bury himself in the safety of a solitary existence. But his isolation is shattered when he stumbles upon a small girl unconscious in the high-altitude forest. When strangers pursue Ramsey to his private meadow in an attempt to kill him and the girl, he's mystified that anyone would wish her harm. And the child can't shed any light on the subject: she's mute. Molly Santana, the girl's mother, catches up with Ramsey and her daughter, mistaking her daughter's savior for a kidnapper. But soon Ramsey's real role becomes clear. With the strangers in pursuit, the trio flees to Chicago for sanctuary. Even there, however, the child's enemies prove as relentless as their motives are baffling. With an unexpected assist from FBI agents Dillon Savitch and Lacey Sherlock (last seen in The maze), Molly and Ramsey begin to unravel the clues, and in the process they make an astonishing discovery as to the true nature of the target.