The CIA scores a major break when Vitaly Yurchenko, a high-ranking KGB officer, defects to the US. Assigned as the lead in the debriefing, Aldrich Ames engages in a verbal cat-and-mouse game to determine whether he is in danger of being ratted out. Ames considers taking drastic measures when Yurchenko reveals that he knows of a mole in the CIA. Meanwhile, Sandy frets over the safety of a beloved and esteemed asset, General Dmitri Polyakov.

Despite the task force being fully convinced of Ames' guilt, Sandy seeks more definitive proof to convince the Justice Department to proceed with their own investigation. As the hunt closes in on Ames, Sandy's commitment to the job pushes her husband's patience and commitment to the brink. After Ames is finally caught and brought to justice, he mulls over a major decision--to go down defiantly or to confess and protect his wife and child.