By day, Carlton Westerfield delivers cars for a leasing company, earning a modest living and arousing no suspicion. But at night, his true talent is revealed, a talent that involves murder. Carlton is a hired killer, a cautious, no-nonsense guy that crime kingpin Randall "Big Mo" Morris calls when the job has to be done right, no hitches. Carlton's neat little world is shaken when he reads of Big Mo's death over morning coffee, but that's the least of his worries. A phone call and a visit from a mysterious woman who is somehow connected to Mo's death threatens to unravel things completely. The woman, Paula Hendricks, informs Carlton that she saw Big Mo murdered after being tortured into revealing the names of the hit team hired to kill drug cartel boss Gregorio Molina. The names? Carlton Westerfield and Paula Hendricks. Carlton immediately goes into escape mode, heading to the Chihuahuan Desert of West Texas to avoid the wrath of the cartel. Against his better judgment, he takes Paula with him. The resulting adventure puts Carlton in the uncomfortable position of learning who he can trust and who he can't, a tall order for someone with the social skills of a rattlesnake.