 John Evans is on the run after killing another ex-con who told him about a family in Pennsylvania who supposedly keeps a great deal of money at home. The fugitive ends up in the company of Jess Orkin, a 14-year-old runaway. Evans manipulates Jess; the boy breaks into a farmhouse and steals food and medical supplies while Evans tries to recover from a gunshot wound. Erskine and Colby are on the trail of the runaways. They hope to get to Jess before Evans commits his next crime -- which almost certainly will result in fatalities if he succeeds.