For Jerome Decarie, life is playing in a jazz band. That's why he relocated to New Orleans. But then he befriends a young black woman, Lara Jackson, who is desperate after the storm of the decade, to find her aunt and uncle who raised her. Intrigued by her good looks and appealing manner, he agrees to accompany her in the search to an old mansion in the Garden district, owned by her uncle's brother, Phillip. She's warned him Phillip's into drugs and gangs. Jerome is accepted by the aunt and uncle, Noreen and Henry when he arrives with Lara for the reunion but agrees with her, there's something strange about Phillip. Noreen disappears from the old mansion and Henry recruits Jerome to help him search for her. He and Henry rescue Noreen from the Marrero gang who have held her hostage to extort drug money from Phillip. Phillip is later shot by one of the gang members and goes underground. Their long-distance romance is challenged when Lara returns to Atlanta to rejoin her choir for some final concerts. Meanwhile, Jerome becomes enthralled with New Orleans where his music career is thriving. Late one night, Phillip follows Jerome home from a visit to Noreen and Henry's and threatens him. Henry agrees he must deal with Phillip before he plunges all of them into tragedy.