Jep Frye just wants to live a quiet life as an apartment manager in Meriden, Connecticut, playing his sax on weekends with the Fourtune Hunters. He wants to forget his past life in Florida, where the Picarelli mob is waiting to kill him. But when an upstairs tenant, Lena Lansing, kills her cat's veterinarian, and then flees from the police, Jep gets drawn into the investigation. And when he discovers that Lena has ties to the Picarelli mob, his life gets much more complicated. A blood red ruby is the key to Jep's safety, but the Florida mob has it and Jep must get it back.