As JD and Jessie walk along the beach, they see a private plane go into a steep dive, then pull at the last second. As the pilot flies by, he wiggles his wings, a gesture to impress Jessie. At headquarters, Alex is telling Mitch her about most recent dating disaster. She insists he’s nice, but Mitch knows what that means. While they talk, a call comes in announcing that a crowd of people at the beach is suffering from symptoms of poisoning. They rush to the beach to find Jessie and JD already helping dozens of swimmers with symptoms. They wonder whether a storm drain or a chemical dump is causing it. Alex takes some water samples and a temporary triage unit is set up at headquarters. The beach is temporarily closed. The strange thing is that victims claim they were feeling sick before they went into the water.
In the midst of this chaos, Mitch gets a phone call from Tanner, the little boy who has disappeared with his abusive father. Mitch is concerned, but the boy cuts the line before Mitch can find out where he is. Alex comes back with the lab test for the water: it’s clean. She sees that Mitch is concerned about Tanner’s well being, but reminds him that he needs to do things “by the book.”
Jessie receives flowers – not from JD as expected, but from the pilot of the private plane. He flies over HQ and does a sky drawing of a big heart.
Mitch reopens the beach. Tanner calls again, saying that he is in a trailer surrounded by snakes. His dad is obviously getting worse. Alex knows that Mitch is about to do something rash. She warns him not to take the law into his own hands, but Mitch is on a mission. He heads for the trailer park where Tanner is staying and finds the boy locked inside the trailer, tied to a hook in the wall above his bed to keep him from running away. Blake is asleep on the floor. Mitch and Tanner escape.
They go to Mitch’s house, and Alex arrives, concerned that Mitch has set himself up for trouble. She also has some good news: the reason the people were sick was a hotdog vendor who has since had his license pulled. Just then, the police arrive and arrest Mitch for kidnapping Tanner. Mitch is released on his own recognizance, since the police understand the situation. Alex picks him up. She decides that Mitch is right, and they plan to place Tanner in a shelter until a proper foster home can be found.
In the meantime, more gifts arrive for Jessie, including a package from DeBeers Diamonds. To make things even more dramatic, the package is dropped off by parachute. At the tower, Mitch discovers Tanner – he has run away from the shelter. The shelter authorities decide it will be okay for Mitch to take care of Tanner overnight.
During the evening, Blake shows up at Mitch’s house and starts making prank phone calls, breaking into the house, and finally creating a huge propane fire in the gas grill outside. The shelter deems that Mitch’s house is not safe and requests that Tanner be returned to the shelter. Before he takes Tanner back, Mitch takes him for a ride on a windjet.
Jessie goes to the airfield to meet her secret admirer. At first she thinks it is the older man who piloted the plane, but J.D. finally confesses that he set everything up because he didn’t think she’s accept the diamond any other way.
As Mitch and Tanner head back to shore, but on the pier Blake pops out from a hiding place, knocks Mitch into the water, and takes Tanner away with him on the windjet. Mitch follows him and gets on the ship, throwing Tanner to safety. As Mitch and Blake struggle, they lose control of the boat and it slams into a pier, bursting into flame. Mitch rescues Blake and the police take over once again. Child Protective Services places Tanner in a foster home, but as Tanner goes inside, Mitch comes to a decision: he will take custody of Tanner. He runs inside the building and carries a jubilant Tanner out.
