Publisher's Synopsis
Jake Powell and his partner, Billie Keene, have just closed a case and are looking forward to some downtime, not that they ever seem to have any in the busy Metro Homicide Division. Billie had just gotten married and she and her new husband, Adam, are looking forward to their honeymoon and moving into the house they have just purchased. Before they can leave on their honeymoon, a prominent casino executive comes up missing and it's all hands on deck. Even though it is officially only a missing person's case, the Sheriff has cancelled all leaves and places every division on alert. He knows in a gambling mecca like Las Vegas that a missing casino executive will make worldwide news. He also knows that Metro's (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department) actions will become part of those headlines. Captain Sandusky, the supervisor of the Metro Homicide Division, tries to intercede in Billie's behalf but the Sheriff will not budge. He tells her that everyone without exception will work continuously until the executive is found. The Homicide Division will support the Missing Person's Bureau but must also be ready to take the lead if the missing person search turns into a homicide. Everyone is hoping the executive will turn up unharmed. Because of their previous interactions with the FBI, Jake and Billie are also assigned as liaisons with the FBI. John Ocasio, the man who took the executive, was planning to collect the ransom and possibly kidnap more executives. He was a disgruntled gambler who felt that kidnapping casino executives and getting ransom for them would balance all his years of loses. After kidnapping the first executive and before he can collect the ransom, John becomes ill with an unknown virus and dies. He is one of the first casualties of Covid and, of course, the executive who was being held in a storage unit also dies. Jake gets the virus and decides to find out who started the virus and why. As usual, everyone else thinks Jake is on one of his crazy conspiracy hunts and no one believes him. As he gathers more and more evidence the massive conspiracy amazes even him. He can't believe a group could purposely spread an unknown and deadly virus throughout the world. Who's behind the virus and how many people will die before the perpetrators can be found and stopped? Can Jake, Billie, Felicity and Adam work together to solve the case or is the group to big and important to stop?
