While covering the opening of a local pickle factory, Miguel winds up in the middle of one of Gary's saves, when he falls head first into a barrel of kosher dills. After Miguel's pickled puss winds up in all the papers, he loses his job and must take a position at a museum, where he's forced to photograph uncooperative school children. When Gary reads that one of the kids at the museum will be injured, he races to prevent the tragedy - only to cost Miguel another job. To make matters worse, while at the museum, Miguel inadvertently takes a photo of Bruce Bryce a vicious criminal thought to be dead. When he realizes he has evidence that could potentially get him his newspaper job back, Miguel heads over to the Sun Times with the film. But Bryce tracks him down and threatens him with bodily harm if he doesn't hand over the photos. With Miguel's life in jeopardy, Gary must figure out how to save him before his days as an inquiring photographer are over.

When Frank Scanlon, a Chicago Sun Times columnist famous for his exposes, meets Gary during one of his daily saves, Gary piques the interest of the reporter, who believes that the rescues are more than coincidental. Intent on investigating Gary further, Scanlon demands that Sun Times cameraman Miguel Diaz hand over the confidential file he's been collecting on Gary. Meanwhile, when Gary reads in the paper that Scanlon is about to be murdered, he rushes to save him but the paper lists the wrong time of death - leading Gary to be found at the scene by police and subsequently arrested. Mounting circumstantial evidence even has Detective Toni Brigatti convinced of Gary's guilt. After escaping his arraignment, with Marissa's help, Gary becomes a fugitive desperate to find Scanlon's murderer.

When Gary's own investigation leads him to one of Scanlon's informants, he learns that at the time of Scanlon's death, the reporter was about to break a story on a murder-for-hire ring. With the help of Sun Times photographer Miguel Diaz, Gary obtains a printout of Scanlon's notes for his story that identifies six murders that were made to look like accidents. Meanwhile, Detective Brigatti uncovers some evidence of her own, which proves Gary's innocence and implicates someone with whom she works closely in the department. When Brigatti is subsequently taken hostage and about to be murdered, Gary must save her before the real killer sets him up a second time.

While stealing cars for a chop shop, Jose (Joey) encounters Gary, who is brought in by police to ID the teenager in a criminal lineup. When Gary realizes that Joey is Miguel's little brother, he denies knowing him in order to protect his friend. Although Joey promises Gary that he will go straight, his accomplice pressures him into pulling another job, a heist in which the owner of the car is shot and Gary is taken hostage. While trying to convince Joey to give up his life of crime, Gary is wounded by gunfire and left to ponder whether or not he should have acknowledged Joey's involvement the first time around before people were seriously hurt.