Trisha Connell is just about to wrap up a breaking story on Christmas Eve, and can't wait to get home to the present she arranged for herself: a night off with mulled cider containing a hefty dose of whiskey. But then a Catholic nun from Trisha's alma mater arrives with a huge story for her: the disappearance of a long-ago, much-beloved classmate.

Edmund Grayson is already enjoying his Christmas present: precious time off from running his security firm for a holiday spent with his teenage daughter. His idyllic day is ruined when his estranged father arrives with shocking news of an unknown half-sister who is missing, perhaps dead.

Working opposite ends of the case, Trisha and Grayson face down bullets, mobsters, and worst of all, revelations from their pasts that could kill anyone's holiday spirit.