FLASH! Illuminated by lightning, a lifeless human hand seems to reach from a barrel of asphalt beside the Charlotte racetrack. Forensic anthropologist Dr Tempe Brennan must find answers before thousands arrive for the year's big race. But before she can carry out a proper examination, the FBI mysteriously confiscate and destroy the body. It's a dead end. Until a young engineer alerts Tempe to the disappearance of a couple twelve years earlier - and a deadly conspiracy unravels.