Evan Smoak drives home to Los Angeles from Las Vegas after completing another mission. He carries some pistol suppressors, and he has a knife wound following a quarrel after helping a teenage girl at a truck stop. He soon arrives at Castle Heights, his low-key residential building in the Wilshire Corridor in Beverly Hills. He parks underground, checks his injuries and retrieves his RoamZone cell phone made of black rubber. After changing into a clean sweatshirt and concealing his bloody clothes and the suppressors in a paper bag, he prepares to transition from his covert identity to his public persona.

Evan heads to the condominium’s lobby as other residents arrive. Elderly resident Ida Rosenbaum grabs his injured arm and insists he attend the homeowners’ meeting, which he frequently misses. Mia Hall, a district attorney, and her eight-year-old son, Peter, also rush to join them in the elevator. Mia tries to speak to Evan, asking him about his profession and mentioning her own. Evan already knows details about her life. He says he is an importer of industrial cleaning supplies. Her son keeps looking at Evan. As more residents board, they discuss the meeting and its topic about a vote on morning beverages for the lobby. Evan realizes his wound has started bleeding through his sweatshirt, which Mia notices. He claims it is grape juice.

When Peter crouches to examine Evan’s bare ankle, Evan abruptly pulls it away and his bag falls, with one of the pistol suppressors rolling out. Peter quickly retrieves it and returns it. Mia chastises him for crawling on the floor but Evan says the boy picked up his stuff for him. Ida grabs Evan’s arm again, reminding him of the meeting, inadvertently getting his blood on her fingers. He subtly wipes them clean with a hand gesture and kindly dismisses her. Alone with Mia and Peter, Evan tries to cover the bloodstains. When Mia and Peter reach their floor, Peter stops before the doors close to thank Evan for “covering” for him.

Evan enters his heavily fortified penthouse, 21A, which features bullet-resistant windows, retractable titanium screens, and reinforced walls—all concealed and disguised so the apartment appears ordinary. Evan built his “fortress of solitude” (13) without anyone knowing. A small collection of plants beside the stove brings a little color to Evan’s apartment, which he calls the “living wall.” Relieved to be home, he pours vodka and steps onto his balcony, where quartz stones function as an auditory alarm system. He observes his neighbor, Joey Delarosa, across the street, an accountant and a domestic abuser he has thoroughly researched, following the Third Commandment: Master your surroundings. For Evan, the Commandments are everything and he must always remain aware of his “setting”.

Inside, Evan plugs in his RoamZone phone with the number 1-855-2-NOWHERE and syncs its ringer throughout the condo. He expects it to ring at any moment after days of quiet. After burning his bloodstained clothes, he showers and closes his forearm wound with superglue. In his bedroom, he contemplates opening the bottom drawer while looking for clean clothes, but he hesitates, thinking of the hidden item. He goes back to the shower, where, with a hidden palm-print reader, he reveals the Vault, a secret room containing his armory, workbench, offshore banking information, and computer systems surveilling the building. He waters his small aloe plant, Vera, with an ice cube and locks the suppressors in.

After emerging from the Vault, Evan meditates until he achieves a “blissful stillness” focusing on his breath until he feels lost. His meditation is interrupted when the RoamZone phone rings.

Evan’s cell phone receives digitized calls sent through a virtual private network, which functions in 135 countries; Evan frequently changes SIM cards to keep it untraceable. He answers with his standard greeting: “Do you need my help?” (20). The caller, Morena Aguilar, a frightened young woman, says she got the number from a previous client. Evan asks for the client’s description, following the First Commandment: “Assume nothing.” The woman hardly believes Evan is on the phone, thinking he was only an urban myth. They arrange to meet the next day at her home in East LA, giving Evan time for surveillance. Evan needs time to inspect her house, adhering to the Ninth Commandment: “Always play offense” (21). While not an expert at hacking, Evan can easily access law enforcement databases that are connected to the Internet and uses them to gather information.

The following day, Morena sits scared on her front porch in a Latin American neighborhood. Evan arrives, observing the street and seeing weary teenage mothers and their babies outside the houses. After observing that they bear marks on their arms, Evan approaches Morena under the guise of a salesman and instructs her to enter the house, pretending to be annoyed. A while later, they both sit inside her cramped house, where a parrot repeatedly squawks, “please don’t.” Evan notices her tension and asks her if she can handle a gun, giving her his pistol. Struggling to speak, she finally explains her story. Morena is 17 years old; her mother has died from cancer and her father left when she was a kid. A man has been sexually exploiting her and now intends to target her 11-year-old sister, Carmen, controlling them through threats and a cell phone that keeps Morena on call. She gives him the phone and says they cannot leave because she can track them down anywhere they go through the databases.

Evan notices a circular brand on Morena’s inner forearm. Glancing at the women across the street, he realizes their marks are identical—the shape of a .40-caliber gun barrel, standard LAPD issue. He realizes that a police officer has been trafficking multiple women on the block through commercial sexual exploitation. Morena confirms the entire block is under his control. She hesitates to ask for his help but Evan tells her she no longer has to worry about her sister.

On his way home, Evan checks his various properties, a network of safe houses scattered throughout Los Angeles. He might need to disappear at any time, as he is on several most-wanted lists, and must be careful at airports and borders. Back at Castle Heights, a resident, Johnny Middleton, finds him in the lobby, telling him to join him in a free martial arts class. Evan mentally choreographs crushing him down during the lesson but simply flinches and declines.

Mia and Peter rush in to catch the elevator. Mia drops her drugstore bag while trying to reach her phone and Evan catches it. He notices that Peter keeps looking at him, again. After they exit, Evan realizes he is still holding one of Mia’s bags. In his apartment, he finds it contains Muppet-themed Band-Aids, which seem jarringly out of place.

In the Vault, Evan researches the name Morena gave him: Detective Bill Chambers of the LAPD’s Gang and Narcotics Division. He finds evidence of suspicious financial activity but nothing like “ironclad proof,” which is the First Commandment. On Morena’s phone, he discovers explicit texts and photos of underage girls. Though disturbed, he suppresses his anger, recalling the Fourth Commandment: “Never make it personal” (31). He looks at Chambers’ purchase records and finds a Costco account of his wife, Sandy, a woman looking distressed and sad. A new text arrives from Chambers on the phone, instructing that the next night at 10 pm. Morena should have her ready. Evan replies himself, saying that he will be waiting.

Evan prepares dinner but is distracted by Mia’s bag and goes to return it. He finds chaos at her apartment—Peter running wild with a lightsaber, his face covered in duct tape forming a makeshift eye patch. Peter suggests that Evan stay for dinner.

Over spaghetti and juice boxes, Peter makes a series of disconnected statements, revealing that he is adopted, mentioning his mother’s infertility issues, his father’s death, and wanting a Christmas tree. The domestic scene is entirely foreign to Evan. After dinner, he helps Mia wash the dishes and Evan notices a handwritten motivational quote on her refrigerator. Mia explains she lives there on life insurance money and occasionally receives threats related to her work as a district attorney. Evan offers to keep an eye out, and Mia emphasizes that such people are dangerous killers. She asks Evan about his family, but he says he has none anymore. Peter gives Evan a sticky fist bump goodbye. Evan returns to his apartment, scrapes his uneaten ahi steak into the disposal and washes red stains from the fruit punch off his hands.

Evan waits in the darkness of Morena’s bedroom, a string connecting his hand to the door handle so he can unlock it remotely, his suppressed pistol loaded with heavy subsonic ammunition. He has been waiting for over an hour for Chambers, who would arrive to rape Carmen. The parrot in the adjacent room squawks, “Please don’t!” Evan reminds himself of the Commandments and looks at his weapon, thinking he could always count on it, unlike people who often failed.

A flashback reveals young Evan waking in his new room at Jack Johns’s house in Arlington, Virginia. Evan finds Jack in a study, reading historical books and listening to classical music with his dog, Strider, for company. Evan asks Jack why he chose him, and Jack says Evan knows what it feels like to be “powerless.” Jack offers Evan a new last name, Smoak, his wife’s maiden name, saying Evan’s real name must remain unknown. He then drives him to a barn where a large, bearded man says he will teach him about pain. The man cuts Evan’s palm, then slaps him, saying that pain is relative and subjective, and one pain distracts from another. He notes that “physiological pain and “felt pain” (42) are different; it all depends on the mind and how it reacts to pain. Jack emphasizes that while pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. Realizing this is a test, Evan offers his other, unmarked hand to continue the lesson.

In the present, Chambers sends a text to Morena’s phone, saying he has arrived and wants Carmen alone. He soon comes outside the locked bedroom door. Evan pulls the string, and the door opens. Chambers steps inside, sees Evan, asks who he is, then notices the plastic drop cloth beneath his feet.

The morning after killing Chambers, Evan drives to Las Vegas to visit Tommy Stojack, a nine-fingered armorer who supplies him with customized, untraceable weapons. Evan met him through a complex network of connections. Tommy supplies several black-ops groups, and the two have managed to build a certain trust. Evan asks Tommy to destroy the barrel, slide, and firing pin of his pistol used on Chambers. Using a cutting torch, Tommy reduces the components to slag and fits the weapon with new, non-serialized parts. Evan test-fires the rebuilt pistol to verify it functions properly. Tommy also gives Evan a new Strider-brand folding knife. Evan pays Tommy in cash and as he turns to leave, he checks the security camera to make sure it is unplugged. Evan looks at Tommy apologetically. Tommy understands, saying that ensuring safety is necessary as nobody knows “who’s who in the zoo” (49). They finally share a knowing grin of mutual but cautious trust.

Evan meets Morena at Benny’s Burgers, where she works. Young Carmen sits in a booth, coloring herself. Evan sits outside and when Morena goes to hand him the menu, he confirms they are safe and can return home. Morena and Carmen stayed at a friend’s house for a day. She worries people might think she killed Chambers, but Evan emphasizes he had many enemies. As payment, Evan instructs Morena to find one other person in a desperate situation and give them his number—his referral system for reaching people he would not find on his own. Getting Morena to help someone else would make her feel empowered. Evan also reveals he has arranged for her to inherit her deceased biological father’s unclaimed assets, nearly $90,000, giving her and Carmen financial independence. He encourages her to feel proud of herself, because she cares for her sister well. As Evan leaves, he observes Carmen waving at Morena, her inner forearm unmarred by any brand.

The next day, Evan visits Morena’s now-empty house. He finds a note from her apologizing to the landlord for missing rent. Tearing the note, he leaves $600 on the counter, then calls the Humane Society to rescue the parrot and feeds the bird before departing.

Back in the Vault, Evan waters his aloe vera and longs for a bottle of vodka to relax. Five days after his last mission, he does not expect his phone to ring soon. He leaves his apartment to go buy vodka. In the garage, Mia finds him, saying her car is blocked in. She asks him to borrow his truck to pick Peter from her brother’s house in Tarzana, but Evan refuses and offers to drive her himself.

Mia tries to open the truck’s window; Evan says it is broken but, in reality, they are made out of armor glass. The truck is also modified appropriately for “extreme contingencies,” just like Evan. After picking up Peter, Mia takes a work call outside and Peter says she is talking about a guy who shot someone. Evan notices injuries on Peter and the boy confides in Evan about a fifth-grade bully. Peter thinks about defending himself, but he never does. Evan gives him a brief talk about the power of “next time,” saying that things can always change.

Back at Mia’s apartment, Evan waits while she puts the sleeping Peter to bed. He notices another note on her refrigerator about pursuing meaning and decides to stay. Over wine, Mia opens up about her late husband and how his death has left him idealized in her memory. They share a moment of mutual attraction. Suddenly, the RoamZone phone rings in Evan’s pocket, interrupting them. Shocked to receive a call so soon, he knows something is wrong; he apologizes and leaves abruptly, registering the hurt in Mia’s eyes. In the hallway, he answers. A woman begs for help, saying they are going to kill her.

Evan is immediately suspicious of the call coming so soon. The woman confirms Morena referred her. Evan asks for Morena’s description. The woman describes her but refuses to give her own name, leaving Evan in distrust. The woman confesses her own disbelief and insists on meeting Evan at Bottega Louie, a crowded diner downtown. If it is a setup, it feels contrived and amateur to Evan, but he prepares cautiously, following the Commandments as always.

The next day, he surveys the place from a parking garage in a safe-house vehicle. He spots a black-haired woman in her late thirties with a distinctive three-star tattoo behind her ear. With the help of a restaurant employee he bribed earlier, Evan delivers her a note redirecting her to a newsstand, then calls the newsstand and routes her to another restaurant, the Lotus Dim Sum in Chinatown—a location of his choosing. The woman hesitates but follows.

At the restaurant, Evan positions himself with his back to the window, choosing the seat himself. The woman identifies herself as Katrin White and claims she owes $2.1 million to a private Vegas gambling operation. They have kidnapped her father and given her a two-week deadline, now down to four days. Evan emphasizes he has never lost a person he helped. Evan uses the stainless-steel side of a passing dim sum cart as a mirror and spots a sniper scope reflected in a third-floor window across the street. He pulls Katrin to the floor an instant before a high-caliber round pierces her chair. Evan realizes he is “playing defense” for the first time.

As panicked diners flee, he identifies a second attacker firing into the crowd. Evan recalls the first rule while shooting: “Get off the X” (73). Evan kicks over a large lobster tank, knocking the shooter down, then kills him by shooting straight to his temple. Chaos erupts as Evan tries to flee with Katrin through the back doors.

They flee to a rental minivan Evan had already prepared, but the sniper acquires them and shoots up the vehicle. They abandon it and escape through an alley and jump into Evan’s sedan. Once clear, he throws Katrin’s BlackBerry out the window and stops to scan her with a nonlinear junction detector, confirming she carries no tracking devices. Back on the freeway, she asks what they should do next. For once, Evan does not know what to say.