Doctoral student Muriel Colbert (Saffron Burrows) travels to Spain to research the strange case of Galindez (Eduard Fernández), a Basque independence activist and professor who was later kidnapped. As she tries to unravel the mystery of his U.S. disappearance, she crosses paths with CIA agent Edward Robards (Harvey Keitel) and a local (Reynaldo Miravalles) who may know something. Aiding her in these increasingly risky efforts is her Spanish boyfriend, Ricardo (Guillermo Toledo).