Three times in one week intruders trespass on the property of well known espionage author, Sidney Mason. The first two intruders belong to the same group--their infractions motivated by radio evangelist T. Tommy Dump. The third intruder, when apprehended by Sidney's bodyguards, has no tongue. His legs are a maze of scars. Through his garbled speech two words are barely comprehended. One is Sidney's name. The other is the word 'bell'. Within days, Sidney and her lifetime partner are attacked in their car, and the young intruder with no tongue is on a slab in Baltimore. The young man's death and the disappearance of three small children appear to correlate to Sidney's latest book research. In a feverish race against time, she and Parker must unravel the hours leading up to the young man's death to discover the identity of their attackers.