London CIA chief Brendan Wallace knows better than to ignore a rumour. Especially one about a sensitive spot like Gibraltar. He hires his old friend, veteran Marine Jake Melrose, to investigate. Then Wallace is murdered, and the assignment is suddenly top priority. In an uneasy alliance with the informant, ex-SAS man Billy Vane, and with the beautiful wife of the secretary to the Defence Minister, Jake scents a conspiracy at the very heart of Whitehall.