Dan Ballantine, pulling his travel trailer in California’s Owens Valley before dawn, spots a body draped over the roadside berm. He brings his vehicles to a quick stop, runs back along the dark, quiet highway with his dog, Penny, and finds a naked, badly beaten young woman bound at ankles and wrists. Mindy Weller opens her one good eye and begs him to hide her. Dan postpones his fishing trip, stops in Big Pine for fuel and clothing for Mindy, and then drives into the rough country between Highway 395 and the north end of Death Valley. While he fixes breakfast for the young woman, she tells a story of stolen stamps and angry Russians who kidnapped her and boyfriend, Gene. They murdered Gene and left Mindy for dead, but she crawled to the highway. The three “soldiers” Viktor Vladimirov, a major player in the Russian Mafia, sent after Gene and Mindy spot Dan’s vehicles and attack with submachine guns. Dan kills two of them, recovers the stolen stamps, and frustrates the Russian’s plan to keep the stamps and the million dollars he had them insured for. As revenge, Vladimirov orders his men to kidnap Dan’s severely autistic son. He demands a million dollars as ransom. Dan manages to pay the ransom then stalks the Russian with intent to snipe him. Unable to get a shot, he kidnaps a Russian “soldier” and convinces him to turn on his boss. When Fursov tells Dan of an upcoming drug deal, Dan calls the FBI, and agents arrest Vladimirov who is charged with Gene's murder. Vladimirov knows a conviction requires Dan’s testimony, and he hires Mako Fazan, a professional assassin who charges $2 million per hit, to murder Dan.Fazan pursues Dan from California to Oregon and then to Texas as the investigator searches for a missing rancher. As Dan closes on his quarry, Fazan closes on him.
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