Successful psychologist Cal Henderson has a busy practice in Washington, DC, good friends, and big plans for the future. But he can’t escape a terrible secret. When he was a boy, his mother murdered his father and two brothers and severely wounded Cal’s best friend, Scottie Glass. Desperate to keep the nightmare at bay, Cal has turned his back on everything that happened that night.

Then on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the traumatic event, Scottie shows up at Cal’s office—edgy, paranoid, but somehow still the loveable kid he once was. Though their lives have taken very different paths, they both believe Cal’s mother couldn’t have been a murderer. She loved them too much, no matter what dark place she found herself in. They set off to dig up the real story.

In his search for answers he uncovers secrets about his mother’s life involving a defense contractor’s dark dealings, a nominee for U.S. Attorney with a questionable past, and a shady corporate billionaire whose sphere of influence seems to include everyone from the Pentagon on down. Meanwhile, as Cal gets closer to discovering the truth, recovered memories of his childhood push him into a psychological tailspin.