When Detective Kim Stone is woken before dawn because local journalist Tracy Frost wants to show her a message, she's not impressed. But her blood turns cold when she reads the note. She has 36 hours to follow a trail set by an anonymous challenger. If she fails, people will die. Kim's gut tells her this is no hoax. She summons her team, desperate to prevent what lies ahead. With minutes to spare, they solve the first cryptic clue. It leads to a box hidden deep in the woods, containing a second clue and a tape. As she listens to the recording of a heart-wrenching scream, Kim knows her enemy will go to any lengths to achieve his goals - and that she must draw on all her experience of evil men to understand what is driving him. Refusing to blindly follow orders, Kim and the team turn the killer's clues against him, using evidence buried deep in the tapes to find where he's hiding his victim.