Daniel 'Poke' Jackson, Timothy Bottoms, returns to his Texas hometown after a five-year prison sentence for marijuana possession, stepping back into a community that still buzzes with old loyalties and new resentments. He is greeted with a stark reminder: Sheriff Duke Calley, Bo Hopkins, the man who sent him away, is watching him closely and has no intention of letting him slip away again. Poke tries to press forward, telling Duke he plans to leave for California, but the sheriff makes his intentions crystal clear: Poke is under tight scrutiny and must stay on a short leash.
Poke contacts his old girlfriend Mary Lee Carter, [Susan George], to arrange a face-to-face with their son Kevin, a meeting he has never had before. Duke squeezes back into the story when he warns Poke off pursuing any connection to Kevin, and to his shock Poke learns that Duke and Mary Lee are secretly sleeping together. Yet, driven by a stubborn desire to reconnect with his family, Poke goes ahead to see Mary Lee and, in a charged moment, the two of them give in to their old feelings and make love.
Meanwhile, Duke infiltrates the political power structure of the county. He is assigned to guard congressman-elect Jesus Mendez, Santos Reyes, at the barbecue held by county boss C.J. Crane, Morgan Woodward. After Mendez delivers his speech, a gunman in a police uniform shoots him dead. Poke watches as Duke shoots the assassin, recovers an envelope, and slips it into a trashcan. Later, when the envelope is retrieved and found empty, Duke concludes that only Poke could have witnessed the assassination and taken the contents. An alert is issued: Poke is wanted for marijuana possession.
Poke shows his buddy Boogie, Art Hindle, the $25,000 he found in that envelope. When Deputy Lenny, John Karlen, arrives at the auto shop to arrest Poke, Boogie stalls him, giving Poke a chance to flee on his motorcycle. A violent chase follows, and two deputies die in the pursuit, turning Poke into a full-blown murder suspect.
Desperation pushes Poke toward Cloetus, Hank Rolike, a junk dealer who offers sanctuary. Early the next morning, Boogie collapses at his door and names Duke as his attacker before he dies. Poke hides in Cloetus's truck, manages to slip past the police cordon, and reaches Mary Lee's home to tell her what he knows about Duke and the Mendez affair. The trio—Poke, Mary Lee and Kevin—flee in a stolen police car, and a fresh chase erupts.
It ends with a perilous escape: Poke drives his stolen car into a pond and is captured, then, en route to the police station, he reveals Duke's role in the assassination to Lenny. Duke retrieves the $25,000 and begins beating Poke, but Lenny's intervention gives Poke a chance to break free. Crane warns Duke that his career will be over unless the money is recovered, setting up a final showdown.
They reach the home of Bull Parker, George 'Buck' Flower, a former bootlegger and friend, who volunteers to drive them out of state in a vehicle modified to beat the law. The roadblock confrontation erupts into a frantic chase; Bull is killed when he falls from the truck, but his last wish is for Poke to press on. In a climactic sequence, Duke's vehicle closes in on Poke along a treacherous mountain road, but Duke careens off the edge and dies. With the sheriff dead, Poke resolves to return to town to clear his name and secure a future for his family.
