Gabriel McQueen has just arrived home on holiday leave from the service when his county-sheriff father sends him back out again with new marching orders.He enlists Gabriel to trek to the middle of nowhere to ensure their neighbour Lolly Helton is safe and sound.It's a trip the younger McQueen would rather not make given the bitter winter weather - and the icy conditions that have always existed between him and Lolly - but there's no talking back when your dad's the town's top cop. Despite the treacherous weather, Gabriel gets to the house but spots strangers in Lolly's home - one of them carrying a weapon.His stealth training is all he needs to extract Lolly from the house without alerting her captors.But when the escape is discovered, the heat - and the hunt - is on. And the winter woods are not a place to be once the ice storm touches down, dropping trees, blocking roads, and trapping the fleeing pair in the freezing dark.