To try and make sense of the kidnappings, McKenna and his partner Detective First Grade Cisco Sanchez gather background information on the ETA. They learn that it was a powerful organization formed in the 1940's to assassinate key Spanish officials and diplomats in protest of Franco's mistreatment of the Basques. But times have changed: the Spanish government invests heavily in the Basque provinces, the schools are taught in the Basque language and the area basically functions autonomously.

McKenna and Cisco come to the conclusion that with the region's prosperity and relative autonomy, the ETA has fallen out of favor among the movement's former supporters. No longer needing to save the Basques, they intend to save themselves with this kidnapping, hoping to trade diplomats for amnesty.