Mallet's past catches up with him and is revealed.
Mallet lies in bed unable to sleep. He rises and goes into the bathroom to wash his face and hands. After pouring coffee, he sits by the bed and sighs. Looking down at Dinah, he begins to pace the room before pulling out his silver briefcase. He pushes it back under the bed and then goes for a jog. On Main Street, he finds Matt standing alone. Mallet knows that things have been rough between he and Vanessa. Matt's sure that they'll work it out. He walks away and Mallet returns to his room. Dinah is already awake and waiting for him. He tells her that he slept well. When she seems even slightly hesitant to accept this, he insists and she claims that she always trusts him.
Flashing back, he remembers meeting a woman in a bar. They have a drink and she asks him why he is always there alone. She flirts with him and they go back to his ramshackle bachelor's apartment. After he throws things off the bed, she pulls out his badge and asks him if he is still a cop. He used to be, among other things, but he doesn't want to talk about being a cop. From the tan line on her finger, he can see that she's married, but he doesn't care. They fall into bed. The flashback ends when Frank calls with an assignment for him. Mallet stares down at his badge while Dinah suggests that they find a way to get away from Blake. As he dresses, he tells her that she's a 'spectacular wife'. She's not sure that she's so spectacular; she's bad with the big things. He's her hero though, she adds, sipping from her coffee. As he stands up, he promises her that, when he gets back, they will start everything fresh and get Blake out of their lives. Going to the door, he adds that he saw Matt, alone, early in the morning.
On Main Street, Mallet sees Matt still standing alone and pacing. He flashes back again to a groggy morning meeting with Griggs. They go through intimate snapshots of Mallet and the woman he picked up. Griggs wonders how much her husband will pay for these. He takes out another photo, this time of a man. He doesn't expect him to get in bed with this one... Frank arrives and Mallet breaks back into the present. They go into Company and Frank buys him some more coffee to take off his edge. Knowing how ragged he looks, Mallet insists that he's just been having too much sex. Frank worries that Marina has developed feelings for Cyrus. Every time he closes his eyes, he sees the bullet he put in his little girl thanks to Cyrus. 'I want you to shoot him down,' Frank says. Mallet is startled, but Frank continues. When someone does this to your own child, he explains, you begin to question what is acceptable. He wants him to intimidate Cyrus and make his life hell until he can't take it anymore. Mallet tries to suggest that people can change, they can become better, just like he has. 'You're not a criminal,' Frank says. Mallet flashes back again. Alone in a bar, he tries calling Harley but soon hangs up when he sees his mark walk in. Frank knocks him back into the present. He needs an answer but Mallet tries to make excuses for Cyrus. He's frayed and agitated. Frank tells him that it's a good idea for him to take some time off.
Mallet gets a call from Dinah and goes outside. Matt is still standing there and shakes hands with a man, passing along a package. He passes by and goes down to the wharf. Dinah has prepared a little picnic for him. She's taking good care of him; she wants him to know that he won't be alone: He's stuck with her forever. They laugh, but still feel edgy. Hearing a noise, Dinah walks over to check it out. It's Cassie sitting by the water upset. As she starts rambling to Dinah about her problems, Mallet flashes back again. Going into his apartment, he finds the woman he set up. She demands to know why he did it. Back in the present, Cassie tells Dinah what happened between Josh and Reva. Cassie felt like she had something to hold onto after the world collapsed on her, but she has nothing. Mallet walks over and asks her to try and forgive Josh. Cassie can't talk about this. She goes to get a boat so that she can throw the engagement ring in the water where it will never come back. Mallet flashes back again, he tells the woman, who now has a gun trained on him, that he only did what he did because it is his job. She finds this disgusting and begins to rant at him, Reaching into the fridge, he pulls out a gun but he conceals it behind the door. He tells her that she's not one of the good people, she gets no pity from him and this is not his problem. As he pushes the door shut, Dinah drags him back into the present as she shouts while Cassie falls into the water. Leaping into the water, he swims out and drags her back to shore. He shouts at her that every life is precious and she has no right to take hers.
Mallet flashes back again to shooting a man from on top of a building. Closing his eyes, he opens them to find himself at Cedars. Cassie asks to see him. He reminds her that she has a son and has no right to hurt herself. She insists that it was just an accident and she loves RJ more than anything, including Josh. She simply lost her balance in the boat and hit her head. 'You can't think for a minute that I would choose to leave RJ motherless,' she says. Dinah comes in and tells her that she should have held onto the ring. A year ago she would have felt the same way about things with Mallet, but she's glad that she stuck it out. Cassie thanks Mallet and they leave her to rest.
Mallet returns to Main Street and meets with Matt. He tells him that he senses that something is going on with him. Matt accuses him of spying on him. Mallet says that he just saw something that reminded him of someone he once was and the trouble he was in. Matt claims that he is just trying to fix things with Vanessa and he'll do whatever it takes. Mallet tells him to rethink that, after all, that attitude is what got him into trouble in the first place. He needs to remember that he has a daughter. Mallet flashes back again. After shooting the man, he smiles to himself as a feeling of ecstasy washes over him. He goes down to the street and sees the man he shot lying there. The man's son runs over to the corpse and starts weeping over his father. Mallet feels crushed and disappears into the harsh sunlight. He goes to see Griggs who gives him his money. Griggs tells him that he has it the best: No family, no commitments, no scruples. He'll always have work for someone like him. Mallet can't shake his hand when it's offered. He goes home, nauseated, and finds an ad for corrections officers in Illinois.
Returning to Dinah, she tells Mallet that the internet is buzzing with stories of how he saved Cassie. He doesn't feel like a hero. Sitting on the bed, he tells her that 'there was a time in my life when I had no regard fro life...my life or anybody else's life...' When he came back to Springfield, he was hard, but when he saw Harley suffering, he found a chance to redeem himself. He refuses to let Blake or anyone else drag him back down. With Dinah by his side, he can handle anything. She tells him that he needs to find a way to forgive himself and they kiss. Meanwhile, Griggs arrives at The Beacon to look up an 'old associate.'
Next on GL:
Mel is glad that Jeffrey is sticking around, Olivia not quite so much.
Josh punches Alan after being taunted.
Another Reva and Cassie confrontation.
