Months after retiring from his long career as a murderer-for-hire, Carlton Westerfield faces the most baffling situation of his life: murders in and around San Antonio are being committed by someone who uses a combination of techniques he employed in the past, including the intentional maiming wounds he inflicted on the killer of his friend, Tino Perez. The FBI, commonly the investigator of serial killings, has formed a joint task force with the local DEA office to investigate the similar murders and, unfortunately for Carlton, certain members from the force are bent on hanging the mysterious killings on him. Despite the absence of motive or any hard evidence, two of the agents continue their crusade against Carlton because of his unfortunate proximity to each murder scene, plus his past methods, especially in the shooting of Tino's killer. Flimsy as their tunnel-vision reasoning is, Carlton is unable to shake their relentless pursuit, so he calls on his well-connected friend Reynaldo Gomez for help in unraveling the mystery. Reynaldo's new assistant, an attractive computer whiz, sets forth to uncover the reasons for the unjustified focus on the retired hitman. But her efforts are fruitless, and as the bodies stack up, the heat on Carlton intensifies. It seems no amount of digital sleuthing can solve the problem, and the noose is tightening around his neck. Once again, Carlton Westerfield finds himself wishing he'd pursued a different career path, but it's too late now. As usual, Carlton feels the resolution for any dilemma can be found by looking in the mirror, so he sets out to save himself from indictment for crimes he didn't commit-or a retirement on the run.
