Life becomes more complicated than usual for LAPD Captain Josie Corsino after she chairs a disciplinary board that recommends firing a five-year police officer with a poor performance record and a history of irrational behavior. During his board of rights, the officer swears vengeance against her and anyone he believes is responsible for ruining his life and career.

When one of the board members, a prominent gay civil rights attorney, is shot to death outside a Hollywood gay bar, another board member ambushed, and Josie's home firebombed, the obvious suspect is the unstable officer, and he soon becomes the target of an intense manhunt causing havoc and fear among those who knew him.

At the same time, Josie and her homicide supervisor Red Behan are trying to find a serial killer in Hollywood who is targeting young gay men. One of his victims is a police commissioner's brother, so there's department pressure to solve that case and political pressure to unravel the mystery of the slain attorney.

Behan is Josie's best detective, but he's retiring in less than a week, which increases the pressure on her to quickly and successfully conclude both investigations. Adding to her stress is the realization that she is once again in love but knows her job is toxic for married life.

It's only after her team finally captures their serial killer that everything falls into place and she knows the truth.