For six years, Alec Milius has been trying to escape his past, but his past refuses to release him. Abandoned by MI6 after a disastrous operation against the CIA, Milius has slowly rebuilt his life in Madrid. Older and wiser than the young spy who first caught the eye of British Intelligence, Milius still has a talent for deception-and a fatal weakness for secrets. So when a prominent politician disappears under suspicious circumstances, Milius can't resist tracking him down. But the rules have changed. Alec is now working alone, outside the boundaries of any official agency. Paranoid and expendable, he soon becomes vulnerable to the ruthless duplicities of a secret world in which no one can be trusted. Yet as he comes face to face with the nightmare of modern terror, Alec is given one last chance for redemption.