Synopsis

For Emma Patchett, an innocent 26-year-old, what
begins as a nerve-wracking State Dinner turns into
tragedy. Emma, a junior scheduler on Vice
President Veronica Diener’s staff, is seated next to
the Norwegian Minister of Oil and Energy at a
banquet. Before the dessert plates are cleared
away, the minister dies, a victim of poison.

The Norwegian minister was in the United States to
negotiate an oil deal with the President, a deal the
Vice President opposes and will do anything to
prevent. The Saudis are manipulating the Vice
President into poisoning the President to punish him
for moving away from the Saudis politically and for
brokering the oil agreement with Norway.

Emma’s friend Lars Utgard, assistant to the minister,
is implicated in his death. Emma tries to help Lars
extricate himself with the reluctant assistance of her
suitor, Secret Service Agent Christian Whittenberg.

As Emma gets too close to the truth, she is identified
as a threat to the conspirators. The Saudis have
recruited Emma’s boss to act as a mole in the Vice
President’s office to ensure the V.P. does not
double-cross her Saudi co-conspirators. Her boss
becomes suspicious of Emma’s interest and alerts
the Saudi hit man who is helping the Vice President
in her assassination plot.

To keep tabs on Emma, the hit man begins stalking
her and her roommate. Emma survives two attempts
on her life, one during her monthly flying lesson and
one while walking with her boss. While attempting to
elude the hit man’s speeding car, her boss shoves
Emma out of his way. She falls onto the curb and
her boss is killed. Emma is briefly hospitalized.

Emma accompanies the Vice President to Norway to
prepare for the President’s upcoming visit, when the
Vice President plans to poison the President.

Emma is kidnapped in Oslo by the Saudis. They
plan to video Emma’s execution, after forcing her to
read a statement revealing the Vice President’s
involvement in the President’s eventual poisoning
death. If V.P. Diener keeps her end of the bargain,
Emma will be quietly killed and her body hidden. If
the Vice President double-crosses the Saudis, they
will frame the Vice President for Emma’s murder.

The Saudis fly Emma from Oslo to Tromsø, where
Norway’s new oil field is located. She is forced out
of the plane in a tandem parachute jump and is
transported to the Saudis’ camp, where they have
been spying on the off-shore oil rig. She smuggles
a message to Lars, who reports her whereabouts to
the Vice President.

Veronica Diener knows that Emma is held by the
Saudis, but she does not know where. When Lars
gives her Emma’s location, she decides to rescue
her to prevent the Saudis from having a hold on her
for the rest of her life. She hires mercenaries to
rescue Emma. They carry her by Zodiac to the oil
rig, where they believe they are protecting her by
hiding her for the Vice President.

Emma escapes from the mercenaries by enlisting
the help of the oil rig doctor. Feigning illness, Emma
is flown by helicopter to the mainland, where the
doctor and his wife hide her until Lars arrives from
Oslo. While on Lars’ motorcycle en route to the
Tromsø airport, he and Emma are spotted by the
kidnappers, who give chase.

Emma and Vice President Diener meet in the airport
and have a major confrontation in the Ladies Room,
with her Secret Service team outside. Once Vice
President Diener learns that her protégé knows
about the President’s poisoned medication, she
resolves to avoid being tried for treason. The V.P.
grabs a gun from Agent Whittenberg, forcing a
struggle in which she is killed.