Jack Fuentes, a burned-out newspaper reporter, stumbles into a diabolical plot just when he's about to hand in his resignation and put newsrooms in the rearview mirror of his life. His girlfriend Emily has left him and his close relationship with his father is crumbling. The newsroom's loose cannon packed up his belongings and plans to head to the West Coast. He wants to put as much distance as possible between him and his personal demons, deadlines and demanding editors. With not enough money to leave El Paso, Jack bets city editor and fellow pool hustler, C.J. Cortez, a thousand dollars that he can get quotes from Mickey Madrid for the drug kingpin's obituary. Mickey is in the hospital close to death from a two-pack-a-day cigarette habit. C.J. thinks Jack's wager is insane, but he sees the bet as easy money. C.J. knows Mickey hates reporters and all his grieving relatives are also at the hospital, including his beautiful daughter Sierra. She can't stand Jack because of the stories he has written about her father whose clandestine drug-smuggling routes the DEA can't locate and shut down. Late at night, Jack weasels his way into Mickey's hospital room. He gets the quotes, beats a late-night deadline, and Mickey dies that night. The next day when he is about to hand in his resignation, everything changes. Jack is surprised by what else is on the recorder. What Mickey Madrid's feeble lips revealed. When Jack starts asking questions about who will takeover Mickey's prized narcotics pipeline, he finds himself staring into the throat of an unsuspecting monster - an unholy trinity of drug cartels, criminal street gangs and jihadists. The search for answers leads to an old artist's studio in a small Mexican town with Sierra who is searching for her brother's killer. Soon, Jack and Sierra are running for their lives.