U.S. Marshal Matt Morgan vows to bring the killer of his wife to justice. However, the suspect is a cattle baron's son and Matt's longtime friend.

Set in Miami Beach, the story is of a soft hearted but hardboiled widower, father of an eleven year old boy, who is considered by his stuffy brothers and sister-in-law to be a black sheep, ne'er-do-well. Faced with failure, the family tries to have the father hand over the son to thier care.