Owen Cassel has a secret: he works at a conservative Washington think tank. What will his liberal girlfriend say when she finds out? Recently denied tenure at an Ivy League university, mild-mannered scholar Owen Cassell takes a job at a small, right-leaning academic institute in Washington. In his mid-thirties, divorced, and feeling lonely, he temporarily moves into his widowed mother's apartment while she is away. It's just as well because her strident liberalism leaves little room for dissenting opinions. One evening he meets Audrey, an attractive young woman staying in the same apartment building. Owen quickly falls for her and as the hot, Washington election summer drags on, the two grow closer. She too is a liberal, and he keeps his conservative views to himself lest she withdraw from him. Meanwhile Owen finds himself drawn into the shadowy orbit of Chilton Stiles, a retired CIA agent who is also the institute's main benefactor. Stiles was a friend of his grandfather, a controversial American writer who died in exile in Italy. Through Stiles he learns more about his grandfather's role in the CIA's anti-communist culture war, ultimately discovering the shocking truth behind his family's inherited wealth. As Owen's love for Audrey deepens, his fear and guilt about concealing his conservative values gnaws at his conscience. When the truth is finally revealed, Owen is released from his secret. But he pays an ugly price.