- A female photographer teams up with a policeman to try to bring down a corrupt police officer who framed her for drug possession and during her investigation, finds that not everything, or everyone, is what they appear to be.
- Although innocent, photographer Jackie Swanson is rounded up for dealing cocaine and sentenced to 400 hours of community service. She has to shoot nice pictures of police work. Jackie accidentally witnesses the corrupt police lieutenant Eddie Martin killing a pimp. Eddie also was the officer who arrested Jackie. She has taken pictures of the liquidation and uses them to force Eddie to alter his testimony about her so she can regain the custody over her little son she lost due to her conviction. Eddie, of course, tries to acquire the pictures and is assisted by a very unexpected ally...—Paul Mesken <usurper@euronet.nl>
- From a Los Angeles, California rooftop, two gangsters shoot a teenage boy on the street below. Jackie Swanson (Traci Lords), a professional photographer, arrives to document the scene. She follows police detective Frank Wilson (Jeff Conaway) into the building and up to the roof, where the criminals are staked out. Her persistence irritates the detective, but when she thwarts one of the perpetrators, Frank is forced to acknowledge her quick wits. The two go out for tea, becoming better acquainted.
Later, Jackie returns home and listens to a phone message from her ex-husband, Sam (Bradford Bancroft), who informs her that he is taking their son, Kevin, to San Diego in the morning. The last-minute change of plans annoys Jackie, as it means she cannot spend time with Kevin over the weekend. She distracts herself by processing film in her darkroom.
The next morning, she rushes to Sam's house to say goodbye to Kevin, before heading to the police station for a meeting with Captain Ralph Phipps (Richard Roundtree). The policeman, who is overseeing Jackie's community service work as a photographer for the police department, reprimands her for taking crime scene photographs instead of pictures suitable for public relations. While at the station, she runs into Frank Wilson, who offers to help her find more suitable photographic subjects. He takes Jackie to a reported domestic disturbance, but the call turns out to be insignificant.
The two have lunch together in a park, and Jackie tells Frank why she is working for Capt. Phipps: some time ago, police raided her photography studio and discovered cocaine in the bathroom. The drug belonged to a fashion model who proclaimed her innocence. Charged with possession of an illegal substance, Jackie lost custody of her son. In addition, she was sentenced to 400 hours of community service, which she is serving with the Los Angeles Police Department. Frank makes light of Jackie's story and takes her to a firing range, where he teaches her to shoot a handgun. Later, they return to Jackie's home and make love for the first time. After the intimate encounter, Jackie asks Frank to leave. Alone, she reminisces about happier times with her son and husband, Sam.
The next day, Frank brings Jackie a gift and invites her to dinner at a jazz café. Jackie agrees. After Frank leaves, she opens the package, which contains a handgun. That night, while Frank waits for Jackie at the jazz café, a drunken police detective named Eddie Martin harasses him. Jackie arrives and recognizes Eddie as the man who arrested her for possession of cocaine, but she says nothing to Frank. Although Frank attempts to make conversation, Jackie is distracted by Eddie's presence, and she abruptly ends her date with Frank when Eddie leaves the restaurant with a woman. Jackie follows them to a rough neighborhood and watches from her car as the woman walks into a house of prostitution. Just then, the woman's pimp arrives and threatens to kill her, chasing her through the house and into the alley. Eddie confronts the pimp and, under pretense of an arrest, shoots him in the head. Eddie hears a noise and realizes that Jackie has photographed the entire altercation. Jackie drives recklessly back to her house, where she develops the pictures that show Eddie committing the crime.
The next day, Jackie goes to the police station to show the photographs to Capt. Phipps, but while waiting to speak with him, she notices a photograph of Phipps and Eddie laughing together. Suspecting that the entire police force may be corrupt, Jackie leaves without showing anyone the photographs.
Meanwhile, Eddie breaks into Jackie's home and searches for the negatives. He snorts cocaine, puts a silencer on his gun, and waits for her return. When the young woman opens the front door, he shoots her twice in the chest. However, the blonde-haired victim is not Jackie. Later, as police investigate the crime scene, Frank consoles Jackie and introduces her to the lead investigator. To her horror, it is Detective Eddie Martin. Alone with Jackie, Eddie insists she meet him at the jazz café that night. Jackie attends the meeting and accuses Eddie of killing the pimp in the alley, confident that a jury will look at her photographs and convict him. Jackie demands that Eddie clear her of the charges related to her wrongful drug conviction. In exchange, she will give him the photographic negatives.
Meanwhile, Sam's girl friend, Sheila, who sympathizes with Jackie's love for young Kevin, encourages Sam to call his ex-wife. Sam and Sheila argue about what's best for the little boy, and Sheila decides to end her relationship with the indecisive man.
Having returned home, Jackie calls and asks Sam if he received an envelope from her. Sam acknowledges that he did, and Jackie tells him to take the contents of the letter to the newspapers if anything should happen to her. Sam is concerned, but Jackie refuses to explain her predicament. She hangs up the phone and clutches her handgun to her chest. Frank knocks on her door and informs Jackie that everyone at the police station suspects her of having killed her look-alike friend. Jackie protests and shows him the photographs of Eddie killing the pimp. Frank demands to know where the negatives are located.
When Eddie arrives at her house, Jackie realizes that Frank is also part of the corrupt police ring. Eddie holds Jackie captive while Frank goes to Sam's house to retrieve the negatives. Sam attempts to protect his ex-wife by lying about the envelope he received, but Sheila reveals the truth. Frank kills the couple and searches the house for Jackie's son, Kevin. Meanwhile, Jackie escapes from Eddie, who chases and shoots at her. Wearing a bulletproof vest, Jackie survives the hit and kills Eddie with the handgun given to her by Frank. She rushes to Sam's house and confronts Frank, killing him and rescuing her beloved son.
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