Spenser returns, along with a client from a decades-old case. Once upon a time, though not so long ago, April Kyle, a beautiful teenage runaway, escaped Boston’s “Combat Zone”—with Spenser’s help. Now, a mature and composed April strides into Spenser’s office, in need, once again, of his assistance. April has become a well-established Matron of a successful call-girl operation in Boston’s Back Bay, but some men are trying to take it away from her. She claims to be in the dark about who it is that’s trying to shake her down, but Spenser and Hawk soon find ties to organized crime and two local kingpins. As Spenser plays the gallant knight, it becomes clear that April is not as innocent as she seems…