Alexandra Cassidy, affectionately known as Cass, grew up on Chicago's South Side amongst drugs, drive-by shootings, gang violence, rapes and murders. So when she became a homicide detective, the cases she was assigned never surprised her. As Cass looks down at 13-year-old Latoya's dead body on the sidewalk after she was shot in the head, she realized that while 20 years had passed since she was a teenager on these streets, nothing had changed. To complete the investigation, Cass must work with newspaper reporter Matt Ellis, who comes from money and a world that she has never known. Matt's column on Latoya's death reveals details that even she and her team didn't know. She learns that his inside source is his best friend, Brian, who grew up in the same neighborhood as Latoya, and that this new friendship may be the key to solving this case. The trio encounters a surprise in the form of Brian's estranged brother, Latrell, a local gang member. Latrell doesn't reveal that he is an undercover Federal agent, investigating the Russian mob supplying drugs to local gangs. The cases complicate one another as two suspects in the murder investigation turn up dead, and evidence links Latrell's friend to the deaths. As the corrupt connections become clearer to Cass, she calls on her father, a retired police detective, and his partner to track down leads in both cases. Yet the danger revolving around Latoya's case might cost Cass her own life.