Archie Sheridan spent ten years tracking serial killer Gretchen Lowell, but in the end she was the one who kidnapped Archie and tortured him for ten days. Instead of killing him, she mysteriously decided to let him go and turn herself in. Now Gretchen has been locked away, while Archie is in a prison of another kind, addicted to pain pills, powerless to get those ten horrific days off his mind. He continues to visit Gretchen in prison once a week, saying that only he can get her to confess as to the whereabouts of more of her victims; but even he knows the truth: he can't stay away.

When another killer begins snatching teenage girls off the streets of Portland, Archie has to pull himself together enough to lead the new task force investigating the murders.