Sgt. MacDonald reported his camper was broken into with three fishing rods and a pair of custom-made cowboy boots missing, and offers two free steak dinners for their return. The officers come across another man with the same "one of a kind" boots that Mac lost. Cases include Malloy, Reed, and Mac riding horseback to locate three suspects in a break-in at a stable, the station comes under sniper fire, and Officer Wells (showing his rarely-seen compassionate side) takes up a collection for a couple and their cancer-stricken daughter to get to San Francisco, later Wells finds out he's been had as the "couple" were well-known con artists with a long rap sheet.

Malloy has his eye on an attractive woman he's seeing all over town walking a scotty dog, which eventually turns out to be bad news for her. Meanwhile, he and Reed assist a police helicopter track down a young man riding his dirt bike in the hills illegally during fire season, search for an armed suspect who held up a movie theater before escaping on a motorcycle and coordinate with the police helicopter in a futile search for two armed robbery suspects who fatally shot a night watchman inside a department store.

Today's patrol begins with a traffic stop of a high-society cat burglar who's just finished serving a four-year prison term, and Malloy senses the guy is about to return to his old ways. Meanwhile, he and Reed engage in a standoff with a wounded robbery suspect who fatally shot a convenience store worker, examine an abandoned vehicle, investigate the theft of a book from a library and deal with a distraught unemployed man who takes his young daughter hostage in his home.

Malloy, Reed, and Officer Woods are assigned airport duty at LAX, now equipped with closed-circuit cameras, which were used to observe a burglary in progress and apprehend the suspects before they could leave. An argument over a suitcase resulted in the discovery of drugs, another dispute involving an Army soldier and another man uncovers a scheme where the civilian took Japanese Yen from the soldier. A ticket clerk that catches Malloy's eye informs him of a man who bought tickets from her previously under a different name, which results in the breakup of a credit card theft ring, a runaway is escorted to security until his mother can pick him up, and a silent alarm at a toll gate results in the capture of a robber who was holding a hostage. As a reward for breaking up the credit card theft ring, the company invites Malloy and the ticket clerk to lunch—Reed is invited too but Malloy pays Reed (a week's worth of lunches) NOT to join the couple on the lunch date.

Sgt. MacDonald is unhappy about two things: his marriage and radio problems among the officers causing delays in response. Mac reaches out to Malloy about his wife opening an antique shop which is taking time away from him and the kids. Mac later realizes his situation during a call with an old married couple where the wife (whom the husband thought had run away) likes to go to the pizza parlor alone and listen to music, and the husband doesn't understand her need for some alone time. Other calls include a woman taken hostage by two robbers who head to the roof of a building; the suspects jump to a different roof but leave the hostage behind, and the robbers are apprehended with the help of Air Ten.

Malloy and Reed investigate a large car theft operation that targets older cars, then stages them around the city as abandoned vehicles so they can be towed and scrapped. Meanwhile, they try to figure out why the son of Malloy's girlfriend is getting bad grades, search for a suspect who robbed an elderly woman and attempt to rescue two foolish teenagers who enter a house that is being fumigated.