At the end of their holiday in Greece, Keith and Janet Bailey are told that their flight home has been overbooked so they are booked into a hotel, waiting for a flight the following day. That evening Janet is kidnapped with another woman and a child, and Bailey is knocked unconscious trying to intervene. For the next five days, the police struggle with no leads at all.

Bailey then gets two peculiar visits. The first is from a man called Qassim Hassanat, who says his employer can help and arranges a meeting for the following day. He advises caution when dealing with a man called Peterson (of whom Bailey has never heard). The second is from Peterson himself, who says he is from the British Embassy and knows that Bailey has met Hassanat.

The next day, Hassanat takes Bailey to meet his employer, a wealthy arms dealer called Ibrahim Sawarka, who tells him that the child who was kidnapped with Janet is actually his grandson, a fact that even the boy's parents are not aware of.

He tells Bailey that the hostages' best chance for freedom is for Bailey and Hassanat, backed by his resources, to take matters into their own hands.