Russian humanist Nick Elliott understands that he risks selling his soul to the devil by joining the brokerage firm Dekker Ward, but he desperately needs money. Nick's boss, the enterprising Ricardo Ross, is best known as a market maker. His credo is “whoever is not with us is against us.” At first, it seems to Nick that he has finally grabbed luck by the tail, but then strange things begin to happen. First, he learns that his predecessor died at the hands of armed robbers. Nick himself was attacked. One of the company's leading traders is unexpectedly fired. Isabelle, Nick's colleague and lover, is kidnapped and taken to an unknown location.