Carmen commits a capital crime. She disobeys her husband. Worse yet, she leaves her husband's house alone. Worse yet, she took one of his many Mercedes to meet a man. She's been in a disastrous marriage since the wedding day, almost five years ago. Stuck in Saudi Arabia, she is on the run to get out. Born in Persia, raised in Paris, she thirsts for freedom ever since her mother arranged the marriage to a Saudi prince. Bright, well-educated, elegant, she wants more than a cloistered life in the desert. Larry Larson left the CIA only a couple months ago, so disenchanted about how his service as a case officer ruined his private life. His wife left him. Now he returns to Saudi Arabia to hunt down al-Qaeda lieutenants for the reward money. Big money can help ease the pain and fix his messed up life, and help him to regain his losses. When his main source of information, Prince Nabir, is assassinated, he's desperate and needs a break. He meets Carmen, who takes him on a wild ride through the desert, following the ghost of a prominent Sufi.