Neal's old rivalry with Matthew Keller is rekindled when he and Peter pay a visit to the incarcerated conman. Keller has a tip about a forger turned photographer named Jason Lang who may still have his hand in the counterfeit passport game. But in exchange for the help, Keller wants the FBI to halt his transfer to Barksdale Prison, a supermax facility dominated by the Russian mobsters who still have a price on his head. Of course, Neal rejects the proposition outright, but Peter agrees to check out Lang before they make any decisions.
A preliminary check turns up some interesting information. It seems the conman and the forger once worked together, but their partnership ended with Keller taking two bullets from Lang's gun. Annoyed, Neal thinks Keller is just using them to settle an old score with Lang and delay his reckoning with the Russians. But when they visit Lang's studio to question him, Peter is kidnapped; it was all a set up, orchestrated perfectly by Keller!
Now, while Peter deals with the dangerously unstable Lang, Neal has no choice but to enter into a deadly chess match with his old nemesis. Keller wants enough money to settle his debts with the Russians, but the FBI won't negotiate, not even for one of their own, so it's up to Neal to find a way to outsmart Keller and save Peter's life. If only he realized that this is one game that Keller has no intention of playing fairly.
