As IQ plugs a mysterious USB into his laptop, he's horrified to see what flashes across the screen: his girlfriend Grace is sweaty and bedraggled - her wrists wrapped with duct tape. Grace has been kidnapped by the likes of Skip Hanson, a brutish hitman with a vendetta against Isaiah.
As IQ and Dodson attempt to locate Grace based on scant evidence, (read: a Sonic burger wrapper in one grainy image) they must wend through the stark, unrelenting East California landscape in search of clues.
Just as the case grows increasingly complicated, and Grace's situation more dire, another powerful enemy emerges from the woodwork.
And all the while, watching them closely, is the newly minted LAPD detective assigned to Grace's case, Winnie Hando, a complicated woman with a complicated agenda of her own.