Sisy Fletcher, the preacher's daughter, disappeared about ten years ago on the night of the rodeo dance in Washington County, Texas. But now her body has been found by men drilling for oil in a field outside of town. Sheriff Dewey Sharpe doesn't have much time to find her killer and salvage his bid for re-election. Out of desperation, he enlists the help of a former Texas Ranger to aid him and his deputy Clyde Livermore Thomas. The trail might be cold, but the murder investigation soon heats up this already simmering Texas town.