Hardin is a hired killer for Frank Loper, until Beaudreaux manages to stop him in his tracks. The D.A. tries to make a deal with Hardin in exchange for his testimony against Loper, and assigns Beaudreaux to protect him. Adam enlists the help of his friend Ted Willis to help him find Grady Jameson, a young boy who saved his life many years ago. He thinks he's finally on the right track when Hardin escapes.

Adam gets Grady a job at Malloy's, and soon learns that Grady tracked him down because he was looking for Hardin...Hardin told the VietCong that his parents were CIA agents, which is how they ended up dead. Grady then disappears, and not only are Adam and Teddy looking for him, so is Hardin. Adam shows up at Chan's dojo and patches things up with Grady just in time for Hardin to show up. Grady's hopes of getting vengeance are squashed when (after managing to live through an explosing car), Hardin is run down by another car.

When Chase and then Traynor end up dead, the police put Adam in protective custody, believing the Shadow Dragons are behind it all. Teddy and Grady lead Adam to Old Kim, and Grady and Adam make it clear to Old Kim that if he doesn't leave Adam alone, his life of crime is over.

Miguel's mother comes to Adam seeking sanctuary for herself and her younger son, Fernando, prompting Miguel to seek sanctuary at Grady's, because his memories of his childhood aren't good. It turns out that a local criminal is after Carmen.

After being shot by a Shadow Dragon, Adam lays comatose in a hospital bed, dreaming that he is on trial for the unjustified death of Michael Sunks, the man he and Dennis were chasing when Dennis died.

Adam is trying to handle a hostage negotiation situation when he is introduced to his new partner, Eric Rothman. Initially Adam resents Rothman, because he believes his father bought him a place on the force, but changes his mind when he watches Rothman walk away. Any doubts he had left disappear when he realises that Rothman's got demons of his own...his sister was brutally raped and attacked months earlier, and has never come out of her coma.

Malloy is shocked to learn that her former sweetheart, Billy, is in town, and while she is saddened to learn of his wife's death, it opens the door for a relationship between the two of them. The only problem is that Billy is widely suspected of having caused his first wife's death, and there are some pretty bad people after him.

Despite his peacemaking attempts, Miguel is suspected of killing a rival gang leader, and Beaudreaux has to prove his innocence.