Firefighter Thomas Cooper and his wife Linda are tortured and murdered in their new townhouse. The murders are thought to be linked to an old unsolved drug case, but then the detectives learn about a firefighter named Nick Spence, who had just joined Cooper's company and was being severely hazed. The investigation suffers a setback when Spence dies in a fire under suspicious circumstances.

When an elderly man defends his shop from an armed robbery, Detectives Kevin Bernard and Cyrus Lupo suspect that this incident could have been an inside job. After further investigation, the detectives discover that the mugging might have been a scare tactic for a shakedown.