In the remote region of Ghanim in the Maghreb, two Quebec engineers are taken hostage; Rachel supervises, on orders from Ottawa, an unsuccessful attempt to capture Robin Denard, a French mercenary passing through Montreal.
The search for Denard gains momentum, but he thwarts it and mocks the SSC; while investigating the hostage situation, Thomassin consults Philip Miller, who has fallen into disgrace.
Rachel meets with Uncle Sergei, the station head of Russian intelligence services, and finds out that Denard is in Montreal to execute a hit; Sarah goes undercover and interacts with the hostages' spouses so they do not cause a stir.
Anne and her lover Théo get a close look at Denard's power; Rachel is compelled to meet Philip to give him some terrible news; one of the hostages succumbs to the mercenaries' pressure and shares vital information.
A lead helps Rachel pursue Denard's trail; Rachel's colleagues find that she is keeping secrets from them about Denard; Rachel continues to get closer to Fabien.
Theo gets anonymous information about Rachel that piques his interest; the professional past shared between Rachel and Denard emerges and further complicates the matter.
Rachel negotiates with an associate of Denard and the hunt around the latter intensifies; in order to protect his colleague, one of the two hostages tells all his secrets to the mercenaries.
