On Monday night, Nick [Aaron Eckhart], Dallas [Paulina Porizkova], and Billy Hill [James Le Gros] argue with a Los Angeles convenience-store cashier, and Dallas shoots him dead. They conceal the crime from a police officer until he sees blood on the floor, at which point they kill him to keep their secret safe.
Early Thursday morning, in Texas, Casey Wells [Thomas Jane] receives a call from his old drug-dealing partner Nick asking to stay a couple of days. Nick borrows Casey's car, and Casey finds Nick's suitcase full of heroin. Furious, he calls Nick and gives an ultimatum in which Nick either leaves or Casey calls the cops. Nick promises he'll be along once he has finished some business. Casey puts the heroin down his garbage disposal unit.
At 11:55, Casey answers the door to hitman Ice [Glenn Plummer]. Casey, seeking a last moment of peace, asks that they share a joint before Ice ends his life, then takes advantage of a distraction. Ice ends up gagged and bound in Casey's garage just as Dr. Jarvis [Michael Jeter], the adoption agent, rings the doorbell. Casey, still rattled, tries to clear away the drug paraphernalia before letting Jarvis in to discuss his suitability to adopt. Jarvis expresses curiosity about what Casey did when he lived in Los Angeles, as there is no account of his time there. Casey tries his best to cover up his past as well as his recent encounter with Ice.
During the interview, Dallas shows up at Casey's house, believing that Nick has left some money with Casey along with the heroin. She scares Jarvis away by spinning a tale about Casey's criminal past. When left alone with Casey, Dallas questions him about the money. Angry that he cannot help her, she decides to kill him, but not before she ties him to a chair, and she commits a brutal assault before attempting to rape him. Dallas says she will not kill Casey until he orgasms and plans to continue until he does so. She orgasms twice, but gets no results from Casey. While Dallas reaches a third orgasm, Billy breaks in and shoots her.
Billy believes Casey when told that he has not taken the heroin, but plans on torturing him anyway with a saw and a blowtorch. Billy is interrupted by cops raiding the house next door. As Billy is distracted, Casey is able to loosen the tape around his wrists and grabs a frying pan before he sits back down. When Billy returns, Casey catches him off guard, overpowers him with the frying pan, and leaves him in the garage.
Nick calls Casey from a payphone, apologizes for everything, and admits he had stolen the heroin and money from the police. After he hangs up, it is revealed that Nick has been shot and is dying from blood loss. Finally, corrupt cop Kasarov [Mickey Rourke] arrives with a bag which contains Nick's head. He gives Casey until 7 p.m. to find the money, but says that he does not care about the heroin. Upon seeing Dallas's body and Ice and Billy in the garage, Kasarov unloads his gun into the latter two. He tells Casey to throw them out, as it is garbage day.
Casey calls Ice's boss and tells him that the heroin is being auctioned off at 7 p.m. at his house, setting up a gun battle between a Jamaican gang and Kasarov's corrupt cops. Casey recalls Nick's earlier words, which lead him to find the money and a wedding present in the spare tire of his car. He takes them, puts them in Dallas's Lamborghini, and leaves to pick his wife up at the airport.
