Jack Patterson is summoned to New Orleans to meet with the heads of the Louisiana crime syndicate. For years, the syndicate has been protecting Jack's daughter, and now the syndicate expects a favor in return. The favor involves representing the head of the syndicate's grandson-a computer geek who has designed a unique software program that threatens national security and the way most technology companies do business. The young man is being held without bond in DC's jail, and a conglomerate of major corporations have sued him in Federal Court. Jack breathes a sigh of relief. He believes the grandson's case will be complex but not dangerous. Before Jack even meets the new client, he is kidnapped and left to die in the swamps of southern Louisiana. An environmental scientist, Judy Clawson, rescues Jack. He returns to DC to battle the Justice Department. To make matters worse, there is a traitor in the crime syndicate who has plans for the invention and will do anything to gain its possession.