The distraught mother begging1940s private investigator Maggie Sullivan for help is married to a man with plenty of reason to want the detective dead. He's a crime boss. Their past clashes left both nursing grievances. And Maggie killed one of his men to save the life of a vital witness. Now Nico Caras swears he'll let bygones be bygones if she'll find his daughter Adrianne, who disappeared off a city street after lunch with a friend. The police aren't likely to help, and would use it as an excuse to nose into his affairs. Besides, there's been no ransom demand, nothing to suggest foul play. If Maggie won't help, who will? Her sisters suggest the girl might have eloped with an old flame, or run off to escape an unwanted engagement. A more likely scenario is that it has something to do with her father's plans to relinquish some of his criminal enterprises. But Maggie thinks the reason goes deeper still. The more she learns, the more she thinks the girl is on the run because she's scared. As she tries to juggle work with helping a young veteran damaged by war, a bullet misses Maggie by inches and two murders occur linked to Caras, a rival of his, and the girl she's hunting. How can the detective possibly take on the role of wife and stepmother as the man who has loved her for years is urging? She needs all her concentration to rescue an innocent pawn in a deadly game where the other side cheats.