Lena Alton, a young and brilliant electrical design engineer, has invented a new long-range electric vehicle (EV) battery. According to her contract, she would receive a percentage of the proceeds for every battery sold. She expects she'll earn millions of dollars for her invention.

However, when a Chinese conglomerate purchases the company, Lena learns there will be no payday. The new owner is not liable for the contract she'd negotiated with the old management. Frustrated but determined to change her luck, she revises her original design and substantially extends the battery's range. She intends to sell the new design to a competing company, which will render her old design obsolete. But it soon becomes clear that the Chinese company that acquired her battery design has become aware of her plan and is surveilling her wherever she goes. Fearful for her safety, Lena contacts Riley Callen and asks for help. Riley and her AI associate Molly quickly intercede, diffuse the situation, and get Lena the money she's owed.

Thinking the case is resolved, Riley returns to assisting the FBI with capturing a highly organized crew of kidnappers. The Feds had made no progress on the case until Riley and Molly started working on it. Molly quickly discovers the kidnappers have an AI of their own coordinating the logistics of the kidnappings. This allows those in charge to get rich while simultaneously distancing themselves from their crimes and the criminals they employ to do the dirty work.

While embroiled in her work with the FBI, Molly reports that the man running the corrupt Chinese company, Mr. Shi, has contracted an international assassin named The Black Dragon to kill Riley and her client, Lena Alton. Not wanting to stop chasing the kidnappers, who are promising violence against future hostages if the FBI continues to interfere with their crimes, Riley brings in her Special Ops friends, Carnivore and Vegas, to help her dispatch the assassin before he can do any harm.

The clock is ticking on both cases, and Riley will have to work faster than ever to stop these bad guys.