It is the first of three Spenser novels involving the character April Kyle, who returns in Taming a Sea-Horse and Hundred-Dollar Baby.

The book opens with Spenser and Susan Silverman talking with the Kyles about their missing daughter, April.

Spenser literally strongarms a kid named Carl Hummel to find out where they think she might be: with a friend in Boston, Amy Gurwitz, who left town a few months before April did.

She is living in a three-story home with a middle-aged man named Mitchell Poitras and tries to look the part of a sophisticated well-to-do woman even though she is no more than sixteen.

(It turns out that Mitchell Poitras is a high-ranking figure in the Massachusetts school system and deals with a lot of troubled youths.

The hooker warns Spenser to watch his back after roughing up Trumps because he hold grudges and that she will be beaten for what happened.

Spenser enlists the help of Hawk and heads back to the Combat Zone to find Red.

Under the pretense of hiring Trumps's hooker, the one that warned him earlier, Spenser questions her and finds out that April has been transferred to the "Sheep Ranch" (a brothel that specializes in kinky acts) in Providence, Rhode Island.

Undercover in a garish red outfit, Spenser finds the Sheep Ranch with the help of a local cabby and busts April out of there going through the madam and bouncer to do it.

Claiming to need an emergency bathroom break on the side of the road, April gets out of the car and disappears into the woods.

After wandering through the throng of dancing and groping guests, they fail to find Amy, April, or Mitchell.

As Spenser explains to Mitchell about his impending arrest and his need to keep a certain name (Marcus) out of it, he hears Susan cry for him downstairs.

After talking with the police and getting first aid for their wounds, Spenser and Hawk head back to Susan's red Bronco.

With grave reservations, they decide to take April to interview with Patricia Utley, a madam of an upscale brothel in New York (first encountered in the Spenser book Mortal Stakes).

They talk over their decision, not entirely happy with it, but realize it is probably the best thing for April, considering her miserable home environment and lack of better options.