In 1988,
New Orleans hitman Roy Cady is diagnosed with terminal
lung cancer and storms out of his doctor's office. Roy is a heavy-drinking criminal enforcer and contract killer whose boss sets him up in a double-cross scheme. After killing his would-be assassins before they could kill him, Roy discovers Rocky, a young
escort being held captive and reluctantly takes her with him on his escape. On the drive to Roy's hometown Galveston, Rocky tells him she thought it was a legitimate business because she found it in the yellow pages and had no idea how it really was. They stop and get drunk at a bar, and Rocky offers sexual favors to Roy, but he rebuffs her. The next morning, Rocky asks Roy to stop because she says she can get money owed to her. Roy, sitting in the car hears a gunshot, and Rocky returns to the car with her three-year-old sister Tiffany. Rocky tells Roy that she fired a shot at the wall and didn't hurt anyone, but Roy later finds out that Rocky shot and killed her stepfather. After Roy leaves for a few days and reconciles with an ex from the past he returns to find out Rocky's real story, and that she (thinking he left for good) is escorting again. He then finds out Tiffany, who she claimed was her sister, is really her daughter, by her stepfather in rape. Roy calls his old boss to blackmail him with incriminating documents found during the failed sting, demanding $75,000 to stay silent. Determined to find safety and sanctuary in Galveston, he tells Rocky that he will give her the money and convinces her to go to school and become something. Just as Roy and Rocky finally start recognizing their feelings for one another on a date at a local bar, they are captured by a crew belonging to Roy's old boss. They are separated, and Roy is severely beaten. After a while, a woman from his past finds him and frees him, telling him to flee before someone finds him. He looks for Rocky to find her dead in another room from a brutal beating and
gang rape. Roy escapes the compound, killing a bodyguard outside and taking his car and gun. He is emotionally distraught as he leaves and is involved in a car accident. He wakes in a hospital where a nurse tells him that he has
aspergillosis, not cancer, and his condition is treatable by the state. Roy is arrested on multiple charges and sent to jail. His former boss' lawyer meets with him and implies they know where Tiffany is and will kill her and the motel staff if he talks to the police. Because of his love for Rocky and Tiffany, he stays silent until he is released 20 years later. Tiffany, now an adult, shows up at his door as the town is preparing for
Hurricane Ike. Roy says he will tell her the truth, but then he wants her to leave for her safety. He tells her that Rocky was actually her mother and she was not abandoned, giving her much needed closure. Roy is then seen walking toward the beach as he experiences flashbacks of Rocky. ==Cast==