In Plain Sight

U.S. Marshal Mary Shannon has a simple day ahead of her – pick up federally protected witness, Tasha Turischeva and get her situated – make sure her boyfriend picks up her ne'er do well sister, Brandi, from the train station – and survive the "surprise" party her mother has planned. However, when Mary learns that her witness, former hit-man Frankie Santoro's, a.k.a. Frankie "Nuts'" beloved son was murdered, all the above plans are relegated to the back burner. And for that she's almost grateful. Mary now finds herself faced with two problems: Was Jr. killed by someone from Frankie Sr.'s past? And how do you tell a mafia hit man that his only son was murdered? In order to keep Frankie from flying off in a blind vengeful rage, Mary has twenty-four hours to find and apprehend Jr.'s killer.

Leo Billups witnessed a drug-related murder that involved the Cruz family, one of the most powerful drug families in the country. It's a common enough story in WITSEC. What sets this one apart is that the person he saw murdered was his mother… and Leo is eight years old. When Leo enters WITSEC, no one's really sure what to do with him. His father can't go into the program, since he's one of the people Leo is testifying against. Mary asks another WITSEC family if they'll adopt him. When they agree, it seems like everything's going to work out perfectly. But Leo's father sues for custody, claiming the Federal government had no right to take Leo in the first place. Everyone knows he just wants Leo so he can keep him from testifying, but the law is on his side. Now, Mary must find a way to keep Leo away from his father and safe from the Cruz family.

Treena Morris is a con artist. Her particular skill: making men fall so crazy, head-over-heels in love with her that they'll do stupid things, like hand her a bag full of illegal conflict diamonds, and trust that she'll put them in the safe. Her current husband/mark is just that gullible. Unfortunately for her, before she can get away with half the diamonds, the Feds bust her. On the plus side, she's got more than enough dirt on her diamond-smuggler husband to make a deal. Mary is understandably disgusted when she's told she has to help this woman get a fresh start. She's even angrier when Treena gets engaged to one of the wealthiest men in Albuquerque, allows her engagement photo to be put in the paper, and refuses to call off the wedding despite Mary's warnings. Now Mary has to keep Treena safe from angry diamond smugglers and keep Treena's fiancé safe from her.

Horst Vanderhoff is an agent, which is difficult enough when you're dealing with actors, but Horst's job is a good deal more stressful. He's the go-between for a highly sought after hit woman known only as Lola. While trying to get her next job lined up, Horst is grabbed by the Feds and forced to give testimony against her in exchange for a chance at joining the Witness Protection Program. When Mary and Marshall show up at Perryville Prison to pick him up, he's justifiably nervous. He's also really irritating. Mary and Marshall set out toward the desert, convinced that the worst part of the job will be putting up with Horst for four hours. But when two killers ambush them, disable their car and wound Marshall, Mary has the much more difficult task of finding a way to keep all of them safe from Lola.

The Feds make a lot of promises in exchange for testimony, not all of them moral, and it's the Marshals who are stuck with the consequences. When art dealer Jay Arnstein goes into the witness protection program, he asks that his wife, Marci, be moved with him, as well as his mistress, Kay. The rules force Mary to keep this from Marci, a very sweet woman with whom she has an immediate bond. Things might have gone on like that forever, but when Jay is shot late one night at the gallery, everyone's secrets are forced out into the open.

Brothers Shane and Chris Worley have been Mary's witnesses for five years. They came into the program alone. Their parents are dead and Shane has been looking after Chris most of his life. Now it looks like all Shane's hard work is paying off. Chris is the star of his college basketball team and scouts are showing a lot of interest. The only problem is that Chris has started gambling and he's thousands of dollars in debt. Mary has to find a way to keep both brothers' lives from being destroyed by Chris' problem.