When his mother is beaten to death by his alcoholic stepfather, fourteen-year-old Samuel Marlowe is rescued from seeking revenge against him by a chance meeting with officer Edwin Hill. The gruff but fatherly veteran policeman takes Sam under his wing and becomes the boy's foster father. Sam grows up and becomes a cop and works alongside his beloved mentor until Edwin is killed in a shooting. Hailed as a hero for his actions in the case, Sam feels like anything but. He begins a dark descent away from the stand up policeman he once was, turning to drugs and alcohol to numb his pain and keep his PTSD buried deep inside him. The police captain assigns Sam a partner to have someone keep an eye on him and force him to become a good role model for the young recruit, though Sam is not in the least bit pleased with the arrangement, protesting it up until the moment Junior Detective Dahlia Bennett enters his life. Though he tries to shake her loose during their first case together, her by-the-book ideals and strong moral code begin to rub off on him, while, at the same time, his relaxed attitude and views on true justice begin to influence her, ultimately leading to the two becoming a solid partnership and developing a close bond. That bond is tested, however, when Dahlia declares she wants to reopen some of Sam's old cases, believing the wrong person maybe have been sent to prison. Sam tells her straight out that in doing so, she would be putting her life at risk. When Dahlia persists, Sam is faced with the ultimate decision: let Dahlia reopen the cases and discover his crimes or kill her to keep her from discovering the truth.