Maria asks Shade to help find her friend Juanita’s missing fiancée, an illegal alien that the cops don’t seem too concerned about. When the fiancée turns up floating face down in a local shipping canal, Maria convinces him to stay on the case, despite his reservations. This is only the beginning of Shade’s quest into the heart of darkness, his search for something resembling the truth, and his hope to bring justice to the criminals he’s tracking.