Phillip Brown and Timothy Sweitzinger became best friends as boys, went off to war together, and remained steadfast as men to guard each other’s backs from all threats. When Timothy is found in bed with a dead woman, covered in her blood and with no memory of what happened, Phillip vows to uncover what really happened. Phillip’s investigation takes him all over the city of Baltimore, from the lowest of its citizens to the highest, and even to those who were thought to be above suspicion.

Phillip’s sweetheart, Virginia Wiest, poses as Timothy’s fiancée in order to speak to him in his jail cell with messages from Phillip, although Timothy is losing hope and is beginning to resist any more involvement from Phillip and his family, especially Phillip’s sister, Sarah. But Timothy does share that he’d been searching for young girls who’d gone missing from their families prior to being found with a dead woman.

Phillip must take up the work of finding the missing girls in order to find the real killer. With help from friends and a former enemy, Phillip uncovers a criminal ring engaged in kidnapping girls and selling them into prostitution. But as he closes in on those responsible for framing Timothy, the villains become determined to stop him. Soon everyone close to Phillip is in danger, and he must find the killer before the killer finds him.

This historical mystery includes an HEA.