Bestselling author Solomon Jones returns to her gritty, street life series with Payback: The Return of C.R.E.A.M.Karima "C.R.E.A.M." Thomas, who has been held as an accomplice in the murders of two drug dealers, is acquitted based on the deathbed confession of her lover, Duane Faison. But triumph soon turns to tragedy when Karima's mother is found dead of an apparent suicide. Karima refuses to believe that things are as they seem. She believes that her mother was murdered, and when the police won't listen, she takes matters into her own hands. She soon finds that her mother's death is just the first indication of a scandal that could rock the very halls of power. Captain Kevin Lynch joins Karima in the search for the truth, despite his family and career on the line.