With a golden name and a platinum future, Army Special Forces Captain Sandy Caine was born to be a soldier. The latest in an eight-generation line of Caine men to serve, Sandy's character has been hammered out of an almost flawless anvil of military tradition. But one bad apple did fall from the Caine family tree. When he cracked under fire in Vietnam, Sandy's father, Alex, dishonoured the long grey line. And ever since his Spartan childhood, Sandy can't help brooding about it. Little does Sandy know that the truth of what happened to his father has transformed into a thirty-year legacy of deception perpetrated by the Beltway's most powerful players. And the only person with the skills necessary to help Sandy untangle the Caine family secrets is Abigail Mancini, an ambitious civilian reporter with the Washington Chronicle. Combining Special Forces and the Fourth Estate is usually a recipe for disaster, but Sandy and Abbie live dangerously. They know that in times of war, the first casualty is truth. But when the price of honour is betrayal, privileged information can get you killed.