Deputy Johnny Hart's life is falling apart around him. Recently divorced, recovering from a debilitating rodeo accident, and stuck in a dead-end job in the tiny Kiowa County Police Department, Johnny is slowly fading into a haze of alcohol and depression. Just as Johnny is hitting bottom, an old friend from his rodeo days, Char Sixkiller, shows up. There's something fishy about his sudden appearance, but Johnny is too wrapped up in his own problems to push the issue. Someone matching Char's description is suspected of killing and mutilating blond women and dumping the bodies in plaecs where Native Americans were brutally killed in the past. When the FBI comes looking for Char, it's up to Johnny to clear his friend's name. But first he has to figure out what Char is hiding, and why his friend seems to be covering for a murderer.