After his brother Sterling disappears one too many times, Monk is asked to find him. But what starts as a simple case of a man cheating on his wife, becomes more problematic when a detective shows up asking questions, piquing Monk's curiosity, but is later found murdered. Complicating matters, the detective, like Sterling's lover, is black and transgendered. A world Monk knows little about. He knows Aisha, Sterling's lover is out there, feeding him clues, but unwilling to come out in the open. Sterling claims he doesn't know where she is but offers to seek counseling from a famous LA pastor, whose name has come up before along with someone named Flavius. Monk starts to believe the pastor, like his brother, isn't being honest. This concern only deepens when he finds that three other women tied to both Aisha and the pastor are missing.

To make things worse, government figures and Russian interests are asking questions about a dead assassin Monk had confronted the year before, wanting answers and threatening violence.