Phil Davis, a cop in a small Texas town investigates a brutal triple homicide. Jack Ryker, enforcer for a Texas crime boss, sees a report on the murders and believes the victims are his wife and young children. He resolves to hunt down the killer. Barbara Nichols, the TV reporter covering the case sees it as her ticket to the big time. The lives of these three, Davis, Ryker and Nichols, intertwine as Phil Davis, more hindered than helped by a devious FBI agent, pursues the killer south through Texas. As Ryker wreaks havoc among the criminals with whom he has long been a feared associate, Barbara risks her life by getting uncomfortably close to him. Phil Davis, enmeshed in political double-dealing, closes in on the killer, simultaneously trying to extricate Barbara from the life-threatening trap into which she has walked.