Detective Adrian Manx, an agent for the FBI with a license to kill--code-name "Gila Monster"-working undercover inside the DC Police Department. On his way up to an apartment building to interrogate witnesses in a high profile murder case, he meets Sylvia Trench, a beautiful distraught Black woman on New Year's Eve. Adrian and Sylvia, strangely attracted, entangle themselves in a sexual encounter on the elevator; a decision Adrian Manx eventually regrets.