In this story, a young man from the mountains of western Mexico flees northward from his village to escape the possible wrath of the village patron. After reaching the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, he becomes involved in the drug trade, rapidly rising through the ranks to become the drug lord.
One night, a high school couple parked at a seclude spot on the rural countryside see a drug - money exchange. They find the money hidden in an abandoned house and decided to go to San Antonio for a spending spree. The drug lord alerts his vast network to look for the missing money. The young couple are discovered and forced to flee. This leads them into a series of dangerous adventures that finally end back in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
Professor Robert K. Holz taught at The University of Texas at Austin for 38 years before retiring as an Emeritus Professor. For many years he took a group of students to the Lower Rio Grande Valley for field mapping and research. On one of these trips, while in an isolated rural area he observed the drivers of a truck and a car exchange a large brief case for big plastic bags. Was this a drug - money exchange? Perhaps, but it did serve as the basic thread and stimulus that developed into the idea for this novel. Dr. Holz still lives in Austin, Texas.