Lee, an adolescent who has found himself in an unusual setting, narrates the story of Gene, Ray, and Charles during Miami's summer of 1952. The three friends bicycle to an Everglades campsite unaware that a man who has already committed three murders will confront them later that night. The boys' subsequent violent encounter with him leaves them shaken and the murderer injured. He disappears into the night and cannot be found by authorities. Only Lee knows his fate. After disclosing that information, an extraordinary event unexpectedly ends the boy's narrative.