Late in the Prohibition era, Claire is an American living in Tijuana, Mexico. After her husband, who owned a dive bar, dies, she contemplates returning to the United States. Walker Ellis, a bit of a loser who has been having an ongoing affair with her, agrees to help wind down her business in Tijuana. Their plan includes smuggling a last truckload of illegal Mexican immigrants across the border, a move that quickly spirals out of control as Border Patrol forces appear and open fire, forcing the pair to confront the immediate danger of their precarious enterprise.
With the border clash behind them, Walker finds himself pressed into a far grimmer line of work: rum running across the border with Kibby Womack, one of the very people he had been trying to smuggle, now entangled in trouble with the U.S. government himself. The shift from land to sea marks a critical turn for the group, as they decide to move their operation by water rather than overland. To steer this new venture, they recruit Billy Mason, a captain who knows the sea but is much less versed in the deceitful and dangerous world they are entering. Billy’s sea-sense contrasts with the more volatile human currents around them, and the trio—Walker, Claire, Kibby—soon must learn to navigate both the waves and the shifting loyalties of their partners.
As they set out onto the open water, two significant hazards loom large. The first is the U.S. Coast Guard, with the officious Captain Moseley barking orders from the patrols that keep a wary watch on any suspicious activity. The Coast Guard may not be able to seize vessels in international waters without clear signs of contraband, but Captain Moseley’s approach is relentless, sometimes starving the rum runners by cutting them off from legitimate ports and economic lifelines. The second hazard is competition and intimidation from other rum runners. The East Coast mob has dispatched Christie McTeague to establish a foothold, then tighten its grip on the entire West Coast Mexico–U.S. trade, creating a tense backdrop of fear, bribery, and violence that tests everyone involved.
Against this backdrop of danger and maneuvering, Claire asserts a stubborn influence over the venture. She persuades Kibby and an initially reluctant Walker that their three-way partnership should extend beyond business and venture into a personal arena as well. The decision deepens the alliance but also raises the stakes, adding emotional risk to a plan already heavy with illegality and danger. As the pieces move on the water and in the shadows, the group must weigh loyalty, desire, and the ever-present threat of law enforcement and rival outfits, all while trying to survive the volatile world they have chosen to inhabit.
