Mike helps a Department of Justice employee whose sister has been kidnapped by a hitman who wants information about a banker in the Witness Protection Program who is scheduled to testify against the drug dealer whose money he laundered.

A burglar that Mike once put in jail fears a third strike conviction if he reports that he witnessed a murder as he lay in wait to rob an office, and he goes to Mike for help in convincing the police that the wrong man has been arrested for the crime. The detective on the case has a long-standing grudge against Mike, so he does an end run around her by enlisting Marcellus's help. When they discover that the perp is an undercover cop, they are forced to devise a plan to trap him into confessing.

Bettina's client Brian is released on a technicality after being accused of murder, and he seeks Mike's help in finding out who actually committed the crime so that his name and reputation can be restored; Marcellus undergoes surgery and gets good news from his doctor and a rebuke from Deborah for keeping his condition hidden; Liz helps Brian find a job and place to live when his employer and his wife abandon him; Jamie uses his street skills and some fast talking to provide Mike with an impressive vehicle in his search for information to support Brian's story; when he unearths information about the victim which reveals that she and her family were not who they appeared to be, Mike traps the murderer and clears Brian's name; as Mike arrives to take him home from the hospital, Marcellus is shot by a man posing as an orderly.

After Liz asks Mike to look into the death of the girlfriend of her fireman friend Nick, Mike comes into conflict with Nick's boss, who's an old nemesis; Marcellus works the case from a pattern-killing angle, linking it to a similar murder 2 years ago, and discovers that the otherwise unconnected victims had the same locksmith; Mike discovers that a fire that Nick's squad recently fought was in a building that housed a methadone lab where $112,600 disappeared, and suspicion points to the squad.

When Mike attempts to return the cell phone a stripper named Molly leaves in his cab and discovers that she's disappeared, he sets out to find her for the sake of Quinn, her twelve year old daughter; Marcellus's old friend and mentor Henry Baker asks his help in investigating how his jobless grandson Darryl has such an endless supply of cash; Quinn and Marcellus provide Mike with the inspiration and information he needs to find Molly, who's been kidnapped by one of the partners in the law firm where she works during the day as a paralegal; after Marcellus discovers that Darryl is linked to a series of high-end burglaries, he offers to sweep it under the rug, but Henry refuses to allow Marcellus to cover up the boy's crimes.