Early one autumn morning ex-DEA undercover agent Kent Baker is shot and wounded in a drive-by shooting, along with an elderly man who dies and a thirteen-year-old girl who is left paralyzed. The police find little motivation for the attacks other than they appear to be the random work of a psychopath. Kent is not so sure and begins investigating on his own stark terms.
Baker is on a mutually-agreed-to leave of absence from the agency. His bosses considered him a loose cannon, much too quick to get physical or draw down on perpetrators, while he thinks the head honchos have had their brains addled from sitting too long in a climate controlled environment. His immediate superior once told him he was acting as judge and jury in these encounters and asked him if he had a conscience. Baker replied that he would rather be conscious than have a conscience.
Yes, Baker has a short, smoldering fuse, most especially as it pertains to decent, innocent folks getting maimed or killed, and takes his one-man investigation into the drive-by shootings seriously, with a reckless abandon. While doing so he must contend with a homicidal drug pusher out of his DEA past, along with some other random folks who carry strongly held cravings to kill.
And then there is also his mind's eye that replays, every day, the enraging vision of the paralyzed teenager, a lonely young lady who has no friends.
Bottom line is, with Kent Baker, revenge can be a flexible concept.