 A chance encounter at a roadside diner results in the shooting death of one member of a gang of three holdup men and the abduction of Officer Jimmy Simpson. The diner waitress alerts the Highway Patrol and Dan Mathews uses the Patrol s helicopter to follow them in the rough terrain. The two release Simpson after knocking him unconscious, but they take refuge in a remote farmhouse and terrorize the woman who lives there. Dan Mathews decides to take a chance on helping the frightened woman escape her captors so he can use tear gas to force the criminals into the open.