Bank robber Frank Halloway escapes from Lewisburg Federal Prison and begins a cross country journey with a naive but earnest young woman named Mona. Object: $500,000.00 in loot from the robbery of a Federal Reserve Bank being held in Los Angeles by Ed Johnson, Halloway's partner who was never apprehended. Ness sets out in pursuit of Halloway because he has a special interest in the case--Halloway once killed one of his agents.