When Washington D.C. police detective Ryan Kessler is targeted by Henry Loving, he & his family are immediately put under government protection. Loving is a ruthless 'lifter', hired to extract information from his victims, & he will use whatever means necessary including kidnapping, torturing or killing their family. Assigned to the Kesslers is protection officer Corte: uncompromising, relentlessly devoted to protecting those in his care & a brilliant game strategist. He also knows just how brutal the lifter can be -- six years earlier, Loving killed someone close to him. As tension increases between the family, the situation escalates into a deadly contest between protector & lifter as each tries to outwit the other. & as the lifter closes in on his prey, Corte must decide whether to protect his charges, or expose them to a killer in the name of personal revenge.. .