As worldwide law enforcement's facial recognition software improved by leaps and bounds, criminal cartels around the globe scrambled to find a solution to defeat the new and improved identity system. One cartel, in particular, using an unlimited pool of resources, designed a foolproof way to give the underworld a new face. Or so they thought. Until a pair of twins and a small California high desert police department pulled the thread that would unravel their well-oiled machine. A gruesome murder would lead to a hidden surgical suite where missing migrants were used as tissue donors for clandestine facial reconstruction surgery. A manhunt through the sage and cactus of the high desert would lead three detectives to a final showdown with a pair of ex-military butchers hired by the cartel. At least they thought the case was closed. However, the greed from within the organization would ultimately ignite a new flashpoint with the cartel's head man sending in a team of assassins and a beautiful woman hacker to erase both people and secret files. Files kept of the cartel's surgical clients as they were before and after facial reconstruction. It then became a race against time. If the encryption on each file were broken and the files sent to Interpol, then the cartel itself would become a worldwide target to every criminal with a new face.