The chief of MI6, Sir Martin Angelis, is hospitalised after being poisoned with a non-lethal dose administered in his whiskey. His deputy chief, Adam Lawrence, is elevated into the position of chief while Sir Martin is recuperating. Adam takes a photo of the four books that were given to Sir Martin under Adam’s name. The book’s titles and authors are a code that Adam deciphers that gives him the address and person he is to meet. When Adam arrives, he meets Kara, a former lover and ex SVR operative, who discloses that she poisoned Sir Martin and has been engineering events that have accelerated Adam’s career, so that he is now a heart beat away from the top position in MI6. Kara requests that Adam provide information to her that will help her. Adam is now compromised, his career could face ruination if Kara discloses the incidents that she has manipulated to assist Adam’s career. The CIA and other prominent Agencies in British Government have questions about Adam’s past and his loyalty. The CIA initiates ongoing surveillance. The head of the CIA surveillance team, Dede, makes contact with Adam’s wife, Maddy. They served together in Afghanistan. Under the guise of catching up with an old friend, she establishes a confidants role. Kara again makes contact with Adam and discloses that the IDR has planted an explosive on a cross channel ferry, which she is willing to give information on in exchange for the MI6 files on 5 men killed in Baku that were part of Kara’s team. When Maddy meets with Dede again, she discloses that Adam bought a record from a store which felt off. Dede assures Maddy that it is probably nothing to worry about, though gives her a recoding pen. When Adam’s daughter, Ella, leaves school without her protection officer, she is followed and taken by two unknown people. Adam realises that there are ongoing threats to his family, and that he cannot trust anyone. However, he is being drawn further and further into the web that Kara is spinning.