A young and ambitious prison officer finds herself in the middle of a battle for the criminal underworld as crime lords try to evade justice. But in order to do that, she will have to learn quickly to put her faith in one of the very men she wants to put behind bars.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union captures U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers after shooting down his U-2 spy plane. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, Powers' only hope is New York lawyer James Donovan, recruited by a CIA operative to negotiate his release. Donovan boards a plane to Berlin, hoping to win the young man's freedom through a prisoner exchange. If all goes well, the Russians would get Rudolf Abel, the convicted spy who Donovan defended in court.