Someone at Justin Malone's junior high has been watching him. As the tallest kid in school with the shortest temper, the 13-year old bad boy makes the perfect would-be suspect for a bank robbery. When Justin gives a public school criminal mastermind the perfect opportunity by fighting his former best friend Brian and ditching school behind the neighborhood bank, the trap is sprung and Justin finds himself in the spotlight of suspicion. A desperate attempt to prove his innocence goes wrong and Justin is left with no choice but to escape down the river with the backpack of stolen money and a hostage...his former buddy Brian, still wearing a fresh black eye. Justin plans to spring a trap of his own to catch the thief, but in the meantime he must decide if their friendship is worth saving. Barely staying one paddle stroke ahead of the shadowy bank robber and a tenacious female FBI agent, can Justin stay alive long enough to solve the mystery of which teacher framed him for a life of crime?