Joe Gunther and the VBI team are investigating a murder and an arson

case-both potentially related to a small but lethal outbreak of Ebola at a local

hospital. When the body of a young woman is found near a trail at a popular

ski mountain, the case falls to Joe Gunther and his team at the Vermont Bureau

of Investigation (VBI). They quickly have a suspect, Mick Durocher, and

a confession, but not everyone on the team is convinced of Mick’s truthfulness.

Despite his ready admission, investigators quickly sense there might be

more going on than is immediately apparent.

At the same time, a large local business is being targeted with escalating acts of

violence-a warehouse fire, a booby rigged truck, an industrial gas leak murderously

unleashed. The odd and common denominator? Mick Durocher, the self-confessed

murderer, was once employed by the same company. These two puzzling cases-only

tenuously connected-are further complicated by the sidelining of a key member of

VBI. Willy Kunkle is undergoing surgery at the same hospital saddled with the unlikely-

and suspiciously timed-outbreak of Ebola.

Joe and his team pursue these cases, uncovering motives that might link them,

while proving that trust betrayed can be a toxic virus, transforming love into savage

loathing. Indeed, behind the mayhem and murder, Joe must uncover a tragic family

history before another victim dies.