Michael Cates is an agent for the Justice Department. His assignment was to infiltrate the organization of Jacob Calder, a deadly, vicious crime boss who saw Calder kill his mistress. Calder was brought to trial and convicted. Calder wouldn't Cates off the hook, so he took a contract out on him. The hitman missed Cates but was able to get his wife and daughter. Cates' boss Burton Hardesty decides that the best way for Michael to avoid Calder's hitmen is for him to pose as trucker Chance Bowman and drive all around. But Cates cannot help but get involved with the lives of the people he meets, and he seems to run into people who know, or have deals with, Calder. As a result, Calder gets a line on him and either sends someone to take him out or offers the bounty he placed on Cates to the people who informed him.