Jack Reacher, a drifter and former Major who commanded the US Army's 110th CID Military Police (MP), helps the current commander, Major Susan Turner, bust a corrupt Oklahoma Sheriff who is running a human trafficking ring on Army land. Returning to his old military headquarters in Washington, D.C. to finally meet Turner, Reacher learns from Colonel Sam Morgan that Turner has been accused of espionage and arrested. Believing she's being framed for the murder of two US Army MP soldiers in Afghanistan, he meets with Turner's lawyer, Army J.A.G. Colonel Moorcroft. He informs Reacher that a supposed acquaintance, prostitute and drug addict Candice Dutton, has filed a paternity suit claiming Reacher is the biological father of her 15-year-old daughter Samantha. Reacher reaches out to Samantha, who is living in foster care, but she rebuffs him.