When a lawyer friend, Nick Rush, is killed along with a client in a hail of gunfire outside the federal courthouse, attorney Paul Madriani is determined to find out the reasons for this double murder. Tortured by the possibility that he himself had been marked for death, only to have a friend die in his place, Madriani casts a suspicious eye in all directions - at Rush's business associates, his clients, even the beautiful widow and her mysterious new companion. As he investigates, Madriani rides the crest of a dangerous wave of international drug deals and people who murder for money. In a quest that takes him from California to Mexico, he discovers that, while the motive to kill may be driven by events taking place thousands of miles away, the killer lies much closer at hand...