A Chicago politico fights to protect his candidate from a murder investigation On the outside, Senator Warren Nichols's reelection campaign appears to be proceeding smoothly. But behind closed doors, chaos reigns. The senator's rabble-rousing opponent is gaining in the polls, and rumors of Nichols's womanizing threaten to end his political career forever. When his chief of staff quits and then commits suicide, turmoil threatens the Nichols camp. Only Dev Conrad can haul the senator back from the brink.   A battle-hardened political consultant with a military background, Conrad finds the Nichols campaign in even worse shape than he imagined. A sleazy political operative has gotten his hands on a compromising tape of the senator, and he wants $1 million to keep it under wraps. When the blackmailer turns up murdered, Conrad must find the tape to keep his senator out of jail.