Rembrandt Macy (Tom Berenger) is a maverick cop assigned to a case where the primary evidence is a womans hand found in a pond. Investigators identify the dead, and Macy is lead into a young womans past. Macys primary path to understanding the victim is through one of her roommates, Nikki. Through Nikki and others, Macy learns of the victims shady contacts at City Hall, the involvement of a gang of Asian drug runners, and the sordid affairs of one of the citys bigwigs. As Macy begins to understand how all these crimes fit together, he learns that his new friend Nikki is not an innocent bystander.