Ex-convict Paul Little has just walked out on the only woman who has ever loved him, to return to a life of crime in Philadelphia. But when Paul gets involved with a petty thug who's murdered, he finds himself pinned between the volatile gangster accused of the crime and the straight-laced detective who put Paul away years ago. Realizing the city may be the death of him, Paul longs to escape to North Carolina, and live alone on a farm left to him by his recently deceased grandfather. But as Paul struggles to secure enough cash for a bus ticket out of town, he encounters danger at every turn...