Michael, a private contractor working for a Washington DC–based government agency, finds himself stuck in Crystal City due to contract issues. He’s lonely—his wife died in a car crash long ago and his only daughter refuses to take his calls. Michael’s days are spent working on project changes with his government liaison Donna, but now that’s stalled too. 

Unable to sleep in his stale hotel room, Michael takes a late-night walk through the empty streets. He is startled by a huge homeless man, who stops him and asks for a cigarette. Michael is sure he’s getting mugged but instead the man tells him he was part of an outlandish Cold War plot to assassinate a top Russian official at the Moscow Olympics, and of a shadowy CIA agent known only as Blue Ties.

Over time Michael discovers the truth of the plot, the tendrils which still linger about the dark corners of Crystal City. He soon realizes that just having knowledge of the story could put his life in jeopardy.