Sam Spears, CIA resident agent in 1952 Panama, uncovers the existence of a mole while plotting the overthrow of the President of Panama.
It is early 1952 and in Panama the CIA is using "enhanced chemical interrogations" on former Soviet agents who have come over to the American side. Ostensibly, this is to determine the veracity of the agents, to determine whether they are true walk-ins or if they are, in reality, Soviet plants. But agents are dying under interrogation and Sam is determined to get to the bottom of it all. And what he eventually finds appears to be a conspiracy to protect the identity of an American turncoat hidden somewhere within the depths of The Agency.
Closer to home, Sam is tasked with making sure the current president of Panama is ousted prior to the American presidential election in November. Sam wants to accomplish this task with finesse and a lack of bloodshed by inducing a Panamanian coup, but he is given the order to get the job done by any means necessary. But Spears has close Panamanian friends and loved ones who may suffer harm in any collateral damage. Sam knows he must tread a careful path.