Jessica gets herself into a mess of trouble after overhearing the dying words of a professional hitman. When she investigates the murder of Adam Cosgrove, she soon discovers that no one seems to want to admit he's missing, let alone dead. With the help of a prickly police sergeant and a priest who isn't quite what he seems, Jessica discovers that the man who was killed was in charge of leading a top-secret government mission to protect a foreign diplomat, and that someone in the safehouse has gone to the other side.
Jessica visits her old friend Eugene McClendon, who soon stands accused of the murder of an old friend, Jonathan Keeler. While helping clear Eugene's name, Jessica learns that her friend believes he is dying, and is surprised when he asks her to marry him so that she can look after his affairs once he's gone. Jessica agrees, but only so that they can expose Jonathan's true killer.