Leo Aleo is a middle-aged FBI agent who has lost his direction in life. He is sent to Taurus, New Mexico on an undercover assignment. Leo is partnered with Billy Newman, a much younger man. To Aleo, Billy represents all that is wrong with todays FBI. They are there to observe the Tonpowees, a Native American tribe involved in a land dispute with the federal government.

The FBI agents pose as father and son, with Leo claiming that he came out west for health reasons. Billy and Leo meet Chief Stillwater, the leader of the Tonpowees They attend a Native American ceremony with him during which Leo has visions from his past. He also receives a message from Stillwater about a mission. The FBI agent cannot grasp his meaning until the devastating drought the area is experiencing causes a lake near the disputed territory to evaporate. As a result the Spanish mission that has been submerged since the man-made lake was created is exposed.

Leo and Billy discover there is something with far-reaching political and economic implications in the mission. Aleo also encounters the Russian spy who killed his partner 30 years earlier. The two agents then learn that the FBI had an ulterior motive for sending them to Taurus. To further complicate matters, Agent Aleo falls in love with a local woman named Consuella Lopez. These circumstances combine to provide a new purpose in life for Leo Aleo.