Past Scarpetta and Benton devise a risky plan to bait the serial killer out of hiding. In the present, Scarpetta orders the exhumation of the dead jogger's body, convinced that there's a connection between the jogger's death and the murder victim. At home, Kay and Benton's mounting secrets and lies come to a boiling point.

In the past, Scarpetta and Marino wrestle with the lie that bonds them forever. In the present, with her family, career, and marriage now fractured, Scarpetta finds herself all alone while a killer is still on the loose…