L.A. Heat

Sam Como, owner of the Naked Venus strip club, has been murdered. His money and jewelry are in place, so robbery was clearly not the motive. Forensics reveals that Como was stabbed and beaten over time, so that he would die a slow, agonizing death. Chase and August question the dancers at the club and learn that a rival club owner, Johnny Roman, got into a fight with Como the night he was killed. The plot thickens when Roman denies the murder, telling the detectives that everyone hated Como, from his dancers to his wife, with whom Roman was having an affair.

Beth Landers, a young blind exotic dancer, hears a man being murdered as she walks home. The murderer sees Beth and is about to kill her, but a car accident draws attention to the scene. When the detectives arrive, Beth tells them that the killer has a limp and uses an inhaler. The killer, Larry Puzzo, doesn't know that Beth is blind and sets out to eliminate the only ""witness"" to his crime.

Chase and August investigate a string of gang-related robberies in Little Saigon, the Vietnamese area of downtown Los Angeles. One of the gang members turns out to be the son of August's Vietnam buddy, who died saving August's life. August is further shocked to discover that the boy's mother is the same woman he tried to help get out of Vietnam when he was coming back. They had gotten separated just seconds before their helicopter arrived, and August thought for sure she had died in the years that followed. She wants him to pull her son out of the dangers of gang life, but he knows too much for the gang to let him go.

Chase and August investigate the murders of two men: one an affluent, politically-connected businessman and the other a homeless man. They discover that the homeless victim was once a successful businessman who was going to testify against infamous criminal Bobby Cole. But the man was beaten so badly he forgot his identity and ended up on the streets. The detectives race to uncover Cole's secret before his hitman makes them the next victims.

The bodyguard of a famous actress, known for her seductive, deadly roles in low-budget B-movies, is murdered, and Chase and August are on the case. As the investigation progresses, the actress, considered a suspect, shows an interest in Chase, who has been ordered to protect her. But the real suspect could be closer than they think, and the least likely of them all.

Chase and August investigate the murder of a young fashion model who appears to be the latest victim in a string of recent model killings. Judith Sands, the L.A.P.D. psychologist, with connections from a previous (though short-lived) modeling career, convinces the detectives to let he go undercover to help find the killer. Chase and August are thrown onto the trail of a mysterious freelance photographer who has been hanging around the shows, and they are led on a wild chase before they can bring him in for questioning. But the suspect's DNA doesn't match that of the murderer's, and Chase and August must let him go and continue the search for the killer, who has decided on making Judith his next victim.

Michael Mills, a convicted killer, escapes from prison and seeks revenge on the three cops who put him there. He kills two of them and goes on the hunt for the third, August Brooks, who has gone camping with Kendra for two weeks. Chase is still in Los Angeles, investigating the murders of the two officers. After putting the pieces together, he realizes that August is in danger and tries to find him at the remote campsite where he is vacationing before Mills does.

Lane Healy, a competitive weightlifter, is the prime suspect in the gruesome beating-death of his wife, but he maintains his innocence. Chase and August investigate and meet another weightlifter, Terry King, a famous world champion. King has promised a victory at this year's ""Mr. Galaxy"" competition. When several of the top competitors, including Healy, are somehow removed from the contest, King becomes a suspect.

August goes undercover as Jake Rheams, a notorious East Coast drug lord, who arrives in Los Angeles to make a deal with the Carletti crime family. August meets with Gina Carletti, the beautiful and seductive daughter. Alex Zota, the boss' right-hand man, suspects August from the start, never really believing that he is the real Jake Rheams. Meanwhile, Chase must back up his partner the best he can, including an interrogation with the real Rheams, who is being held at the station. August is tested by Zota, and only Rheams has the information that can help Chase save his partner's life.

While August recuperates from his injuries from the previous episode, Chase and D.E.A. agent Jack Lawson work together to rescue a mysterious accountant who has been working for Bobby Cole. The accountant, known simply as the Monk, is brought into police custody after a daring rescue by Chase and Lawson. But fearing for his life, the Monk refuses to talk. An F.B.I. agent, Shoenrock, has come to take the Monk into custody, but Chase believes that he'll be able to get the Monk to talk, but his and Lawson's plans are wrecked when the two discover that Shoenrock may not be who he claims to be.

A judge, a housewife, and an attorney are all killed by toy-like devices. While searching for the victims' possible connection, Chase and August discover that all three were involved in a court case years earlier in which a woman, working in a college laboratory, was killed in an explosion set off by a radical activist. At the conclusion of the trial, the killer was set free. Afterwards, the woman's husband, Karl Shipman, set out for his own revenge. After killing the man who killed his wife, Shipman was arrested and sent to prison for life. But Shipman wasn't finished with avenging his wife's death yet, and gave the orders for murders from prison.

Chase and August must catch Patricia and Johnny, a mother and son bank robbing team that is responsible for a string of heists and murders. One of the duo's victims at the most recent heist was Gary, Annie's boyfriend. Annie witnessed the murder, and there is an attempt made on her life. Chase and August investigate the armored car company to see if there is a chance that the last heist was an inside job. They question the scheduling man, Morty Feinberg, who appears to be completely in the dark regarding the robbery. We soon learn, however, that he is linked to Patricia and Johnny, and has been helping them set up their heists. Annie works overtime to help Chase and August with the case, while Patricia and Johnny insist on pulling one more job with Feinberg, but it just might be their last.

Chase and August must assist the Army in catching Major Lauren Wiley, a C.I.D. officer accused of selling arms to the underground. Lauren is an old girlfriend of Chase's from college, but Chase insists that he works the case. Captain Randy Geddis leads the Army investigation and demands that Lauren be brought back to him immediately. At one point, Chase and August think they have Lauren cornered, but before she escapes, she tells a different story. She claims that Geddis is the crooked one, selling weapons on the black market to Bobby Cole. Chase and August don't know who to believe.

Danny Bledsoe, a key witness set to testify against crime boss Alfredo Matessa, is escorted to Los Angeles by Nicole Stockman, a beautiful tough-as-nails detective from San Francisco, where he had fled to. From the start, Nicole makes it very clear to Chase and August that she resents doing all the work to catch Danny in San Francisco, only to have them receive all the credit during the L.A. trial. And Danny isn't known as ""The Eel"" for nothing. As Chase and Nicole are transferring Danny to a safehouse, he escapes. Afraid that the police can't protect him from Matessa, Danny decides to take his chances on the streets. With time running out, Chase, August and Nicole have to catch the Eel before Matessa's thugs do.

A motorcycle cop is shot and killed during a routine traffic stop. The killer's car is traced back to James Burquette, an attorney who had reported the car stolen earlier that day and is shocked to find that it was used in a cop slaying. When another officer is killed, August goes undercover as a motorcycle cop, hoping to lure the killer into striking again.

Professor Larry Benton, a former teacher of Augusts', is brutally killed outside a jewelry store by thief Willie Mathers. August is devastated upon his arrival at the crime scene, having just had lunch with Benton moments ealier. August vows to catch Mathers, but is shocked when Benton's twin brother shows up from.

A Western memorabilia collector is found murdered, and among the victim's belongings is a laptop containing August's name. August figures out that his name was listed among the descendants of Buffalo Soldiers, a special troop of black soldiers that fought during the Civil War. This brings up a part of August's past that he is ashamed to discuss: his great-great-great-grandfather, Augustus Brooks, was given a dishonorable discharge from the Army when he allegedly deserted his troop with three other soldiers, claiming to have been given a map leading to a gold mine that was never proven to exist. August's Aunt Maisie is attacked in her home by a thug, hired to steal a portion of the old map. The pieces have been handed down to each generation, and now someone is attempting to put the pieces together and lay claim to the gold.

After three leading West Coast drug dealers die under suspicious circumstances, Chase and August suspect their old nemesis, Bobby Cole, is trying to claim all the drug action for himself. As Los Angeles prepares to host an international drug summit, the detectives investigate Cole through the usual legal channels while he ruthlessly carves out the competition and prepares to strike a deal with a Colombian drug lord.

After witnessing Nicole Stockman's murder on the order of Bobby Cole, Chase becomes a loose cannon. August pleads with his partner to follow legal avenues to catch Cole, and Captain Jensen suspends Chase after he destroys important financial papers belonging to Cole. Shoenrock claims that Stockman was suspected of working with Cole. Chase is furious, knowing this could never be true. Cole meets with Shoenrock, who is revealed to be undercover, acting as an accomplice, and tells him of his plans to execute the Colombian drug minister at the drug summit. Meanwhile, Chase goes renegade and visits a weapons dealer, purchasing some heavy duty weapons for his own personal use against Cole. After a huge battle in the streets of Los Angeles involving semi-trucks, helicopters, and rocket launchers, Chase ends up on a pier with Cole, weapons drawn in a stand-off, each prepared to take the other down . . . for good.