Jesse Lujack (Richard Gere) is a small-time hustler who, while leaving Las Vegas in a stolen car, shoots and kills a police officer. When his picture turns up in the papers, Jesse hides out in Los Angeles with a French student, Monica Poiccard (Valérie Kaprisky), whom he knows from a previous affair. Monica is bewitched by his reckless behavior, enough so that she keeps quiet even after learning that he's wanted. But when police identify her as Jesse's lover, she has second thoughts.