When extremists kidnap two seven year-old boys from very different backgrounds and promise to release them only if their radical demands are met, the case falls into the hands of the intuitive and pragmatic Iain Barclay. Faced with a relatively inexperienced and increasingly unreliable team, Barclay soon calls his firm friend and faithful deputy Amy Foster out of early retirement and away from the bottle to support him in solving what emerges to be a highly sensitive crime.

Second and concluding part of a police thriller written by Mick Ford, and starring Hugh Bonneville and Janet McTeer. The kidnappers demand that a film promoting their cause is shown on national news bulletins. While Barclay unsuccessfully argues with his commanding officer, ACC Griffin, to persuade the powers that be to show the film, his team are racing against time to track down all clues as to the identity of the kidnappers. Barclay's clear thinking allows the team to pinpoint one of the perpetrators. Before they can locate him, however, he has snatched another child, this time a young girl. As the lives of three children hang in the balance, and the deadlines loom ever closer, the pressure is mounting on Barclay's team to piece together the information, and to avert a tragic outcome to this shocking crime.