In a small Californian town, Richard Bone, a disillusioned yacht salesman, witnesses something alarming one rainy night when his car breaks down in an alley. As he waits for help, a shadowy figure disposes of what appears to be a woman's body. The next day, Bone discovers that a young woman named Vicky has been brutally murdered, and she was indeed the victim he saw. His friend Alex Cutter, a bitter and physically disabled Vietnam War veteran with a penchant for conspiracy theories, draws him into a haphazard investigation. Cutter becomes obsessed with the idea that they have witnessed a crime tied to someone powerful and wealthy, specifically targeting local tycoon J.J. Cord as the culprit. Reluctantly, Bone is drawn into Cutter's obsessive quest for justice, caught between his skepticism and his friend's indignant determination.

As tensions escalate, Bone grapples with his own moral dilemmas while watching Cutter's crusade intensify. Cutter's wife, Mo, caught between loyalty to her husband and her complicated feelings for Bone, adds another layer of tension and complexity to their quest. The trio becomes increasingly entangled in a dangerous game where truth, friendship, and betrayal are intertwined. As they dig deeper into the mystery surrounding Vicky's murder, they encounter resistance and threats from powerful forces aiming to keep secrets buried. Their search for justice tests the limits of their relationships and pushes each of them into unfamiliar moral territories. In this taut thriller, the line between truth and delusion blurs as the characters confront their own demons amidst a backdrop of intrigue and danger.