Mickey is forced to help an old friend, a pal from his Army days. But the young man is in a wheelchair. Getting Billy Budman to where he wants to go is one thing, but losing him to kidnappers is something worse. Mickey is asked by his old boss, Captain Gibson, to work with a police Inspector, a certain Mr de Angelis, on finding the missing people. That is a clash of personalities. Luckily, Terry the computer tech, a more reliable friend from Mickey's days at the Unit, is a more reliable source of information and support. Strangely, the worse thing that threatens Mickey is that the same property developers that Billy Bud was opposing, have an interest in his house (and that of Melia, even though her flat is in the centre of the city, (Manchester).

The only other thing to keep Mickey busy is that the political rabble rouser, Jerry Garage, (from Mickey's last case), turns out to be rather less dead than Mickey believes. Gibson's team has tracked him down to a local hospital. Mickey has to go and find out how damaged the egregious politician really is. Mickey is frightened to see the damaged man wants to return to politics. That's bad news for Britain.

Of course, the kidnapping and property development schemes alike are all about money. It's a surprise then, to see who is getting, and will get, the loot.