A partner in an elite real estate development in Montana's Yellowstone country is murdered as he walks up a mountain path to inspect the property. The resort, exclusive as an A-list Oscars party, suddenly has a new ownership structure. Nearby, the ex-wife of Chicago billionaire Arthur Sands is kidnapped from her cabin on his massive bison ranch. Then, a T. rex skull worth millions goes missing from a dinosaur museum on the same ranch. Brian McKay, ex-FBI agent, now a private investigator, is thrust into solving the seemingly unrelated crimes. His niece, Darcy McKay, graduate student at Montana State University, is also dragged into the investigation. The McKays find themselves fighting to survive as they go up against a disgraced former financial executive, a pair of bent and vicious brothers, a corrupt governor, a quirky security consultant with a hidden agenda and a blood-curdling logging machine in attack mode.