The President of the United States is abruptly awakened at 2:18 a.m., and summoned to his private study.
Three men are stoically awaiting his arrival. The president's first question is blunt and to the point. "What's up that required my presence at 2:30 am?" Sam Carstairs, one of the three men, is the top man in the White House Secret Service. He's an ordinary man in appearance—average in stature. That's where ordinary ended. He has been in the Secret Service for eighteen years, and his credentials are awe inspiring. When problems arose he would utilize every resource at his command to resolve the issue. This had earned him the nickname "Bulldog."
It was Sam who responded to the president's question. "The news isn't good, Sir. A junior senator has been murdered in his home in Massachusetts." He paused. "It's not the murder, which is unfortunate, but the method and cryptic message scrawled on the murder weapon, 'You didn't listen'."
Sam's immediate assignment—find the senator's killer. Sam doesn't like this new President, which doesn't help matters. Finding the killer, as far as Sam is concerned, is his number one objective. But what does that message mean? Is the killing just a random act of violence or is there more to it? Sam's underlying concern, created by that message, is whether this killing has a deeper involvement. Is there a hidden agenda that might possibly have a direct affect the government or, although an unbelievable stretch of the imagination, the entire nation?
Sam is led on a convoluted trail that offers no clues, but quickly indicates highly trained perpetrators and international ramifications. He quickly brings an old friend—a former Mossad agent, into the hunt. The standard answers to who, what, where, when, and why remain elusive. Sam must proceed with all possible speed to find a solution that is hopefully simple, but appears to grow more complex with each passing day. Time is his subtle, but now very real enemy, and the ticking clock is invisible.
