A young black man is killed accidentally when a watch group startles him. To protect themselves, they make it appear he was caught in the commission of a crime. And the police believe their claim. But his mother refuses to believe it and calls McCall to prove it. But her other son just wants to get a gun and go after them.

When a race between two horses is being highly touted the press is giving a lot of coverage to the underdog. And everyone seems to be betting on that horse. So a bookie takes all of the action and decides to ensure that the other horse will win. So he kidnaps the son of the underdog horse's jockey. The jockey's wife then calls McCall who advises them to call the police but the man refuses to do that. So McCall turns to an agent who is a gambler to help him find out who kidnapped the boy before the race begins.

With McCall at his side, Kostmayer tries to help his brother, a priest, who refuses all assistance after being wounded in a drive-by shooting that kills a parishioner. They soon determine that Father Kostmayer has become privy to a KGB assassination plot revealed through the confession of the murdered man.