Ed Earl Burch, once a vice and homicide detective, currently a private investigator in Dallas, is chasing financial fugitives from the carnage of the oil bust and savings crash. Then Carla Sue Cantrell walks into his life letting him know that his partner's killer is still alive, and forcing him into a game where he is framed for murder and chased by cops and hitmen.
When the phone rings long after midnight, Dallas private eye Ed Earl Burch finds himself in a lethal predicament in this hard-boiled thriller. The story unfolds from the gleaming towers of Houston to the charms of New Orleans and the stark desert mountains of Texas and northern Mexico. Burch, a former homicide detective with bad knees and an empty bank account, is hired to protect an old flame after her husband, a Houston financier, disappears following a scam that involved dangerous men from New Orleans. What begins as a simple job quickly spirals out of control, thrusting Burch into a ruthless game where trust is a luxury he cannot afford. Tempted by money and sex, he grapples with his own moral code, especially when his old flame—a fiery strawberry blonde with a penchant for betrayal—enters the scene. The stakes rise as the New Orleans gentlemen send hitmen to reclaim their stolen goods, and Burch confronts Cider Jones, a Houston detective with a personal vendetta against him. When Burch’s best friend is murdered, he feels responsible and embarks on a quest for vengeance that leads to a bloody form of redemption. The relentless action culminates in a lonely white chapel in an abandoned mining town across the Rio Grande.