For court clerk Ambrose Merrion, life was about people taking care of one another. For Danny Hilliard, politics was a matter of acquiring the power to make sure that society did just that. With Merrion shrewdly managing Hilliard's campaigns as a rising politician, the two friends made an excellent team. But trouble starts brewing when Merrion unexpectedly inherits ill-gotten gains from a corrupt predecessor, enabling him to indulge with Danny in the finer luxuries. To Merrion's dismay, Hilliard begins to show a streak of mischief that quickly flares into a scandal. And a federal prosecutor on a mission believes he has found the perfect way to put Hilliard in jail-forcing Merrion to incriminate him. For the rules have changed while the friends weren't looking, and what was once just common wickedness has become a felony.