Janus Payette's transformation from homeless ex-cop to recovering alcoholic to private detective is complete. Having escaped to Morro Bay from San Franciso he is talked into taking a case involving piracy, drugs and gun running. It take him from one end of the state to the other. He is drugged, kidnapped and pistol whipped but with dogged determination, tracks down the Mexican ring leader and kills him. The case leads him back to San Francisco to face the ghosts from his past and he's not sure he is ready.