IRS Special Agent Gloria Nighthawk's life is in turmoil. She faces cross-examination by her defendant husband, Federal Judge Robert Carlton, regarding the shooting death of a witness who was to testify against the judge. Gloria must endure cross-examination by one of the most feared defense attorneys in Chicago on a case where she was an undercover agent investigating an international money-launderer. Her life is further complicated because the informant in the money-laundering case has recruited her estranged son into the informant's heroin ring. She learns that the FBI is planning to arrest her informant and gain his cooperation. She must find a way to protect her son from falling prey to the wide net of the FBI's investigation.