Someone is setting off fire bombs in Chicago in stolen cars using untraceable cell phones. A group calling itself the Islamic Freedom Federation demands the release of Hassan Al-Shahid, a graduate student whose plan to set off a bomb at the Art Institute was thwarted by Detective David Gold and his long-time partner, Detective Paul Liszewski. Gold is still suffering from the aftereffects of Liszewski's death when he receives a Medal of Valor at the Art Institute. During the ceremony, a car bomb is detonated across the street, killing a passerby and Gold receives a cryptic text: "It isn't over." Gold and his new partner are drawn into a desperate cat-and-mouse game against a brilliant mind.