Kinjo Heywood is one of the New England Patriots' marquee players. Heywood's troubles seem to be tied to a nightclub shooting from two years earlier. But when his nine-year-old son, Akira, is kidnapped, ransom demands are given, and a winding trail through Boston's underworld begins. Spenser puts together his own all-star team of toughs. It will take both Hawk and Spenser's protege, Zebulon Sixkill, to watch Spenser's back and return the child to the football star.