When a blast from the past, Jackie Queen, shows up at CID, DCI Gene Hunt is far from pleased, as the Eighties police drama continues. He is even less delighted when the nosy journalist from Manchester announces she is pregnant and that he is the father.

However, telling Gene about the baby is not Jackie’s only reason for visiting. Her 16-year-old niece, Rachel, has run away and Jackie needs Gene’s help. She fears Rachel has been lured into the seedy underbelly of the capital, and is desperate to know if she’s okay.

When Gene, DI Alex Drake, DS Ray Carling and DC Chris Skelton stake out the coach station, with Jackie in tow, they see young girls who have travelled down from Manchester being picked up by a sleazy-looking man. As Jackie’s fears for Rachel grow, Gene becomes determined to find out the fate of the teenage runaways.

WPC Shaz Granger goes undercover and the investigation soon points the team to Ralph Jarvis. On the surface, Ralph appears to be a legitimate businessman, but Gene and Alex smell a rat and are convinced he’s responsible for the disappearance of many of the girls.

The investigation soon slows down, however, when it’s met with resistance from within the force – someone is protecting Ralph. And when the team discovers “Supermac” has connections to the suspect, it appears their boss may be involved.

The loyalty of the whole team is soon put to the test as they struggle to accept that Supermac could be anything other than a good copper. Gene knows they have to put a stop to it, but could it all be too little too late?