For years Michael O'Shea has been forced to act as a personal assassin for Livingston Shaw, the cold-blooded puppet master who controls the remote bioweapon implanted in Michael's back. Shaw offers to release him if he can recover a kidnapped boy, but the only witnesses are being murdered and Michael can't shake the agonizing memories of another child he was once sworn to protect.

San Francisco Detective Sabrina Vaughn is able to shrug off the nine red roses being delivered to her office every day. But the scented, handmade card -- with its enigmatic wax seal and cryptic message -- is enough to send a chill down her spine. When only eight roses arrive on the same day a Berkeley student's mutilated body is found, Sabrina fears that the killer is taunting her. Forced into a partnership with a deceitful reporter who somehow remains...