A mother, a widow, a black woman cop, Marti MacAlister lives and works in a quiet suburb. Part of her died in Chicago when her husband, an undercover cop, was killed by a bullet from his own gun. Now Marti is headed back to the city to find the truth about Johnny MacAlister's death.

Another Chicago undercover cop has died in a drug buy gone wrong, and Johnny's name keeps coming up. Guided by informants, scattered clues, and the hard wisdom of the streets, Marti scours the city's underbelly for the truth she must have: the kind of truth that can give a grieving woman back her life, or take it away all over again.