New York City private investigator Sydney Sloane has enough drama in her own family to make her normally shy away from such cases professionally. But this one is different. Her friend, and father of her godchild, Captain John Cannady of the NYPD has been critically shot in the hallway of his own apartment building, with few traces of the shooter left behind.

Just after the shooting, his wife Peggy got a call from a man claiming to be the son she gave up for adoption after an unfortunate teen pregnancy. His claims and his desire for revenge chills the already upset wife.

With four days to find some sort of solution, Sydney agrees to track down the long-ago child and protect the family of the man clinging to life in the hospital. With her own family undergoing a tramatic situation of its own, Sloane's skills are put to their ultimate test.