Mild-mannered Finn Deacon and surly Dex Bone form an unlikely comradeship when Finn gets the job of teaching Dex, who's in his twenties, to read. The discovery that not only is Dex a fast learner, he also has an incredible memory. If he'd started reading from an early age he could be a genius by now.
Finn is bored with his desk job and Dex, who's only known a life of crime, has a plan: Criminals who deal only in cash, keep it stashed in the house and Dex knows who they are. And where to find them. He also knows that there are people out there who need it more. Finn sees it as the challenge he's been looking for and a firm partnership is formed.
Dex's pastcatches up with him when Tony Harris, the so-called business man who took him in as a teen, involved him in his illicit drug dealing, finds out that Dex is planning something of his own. Harris will stop at nothing to keep him onboard - he knows too much.
Romance and an ex-girlfriend play their part as the two men deal with whatever is thrown at them- there's a margin for outliers in their kind of work.