Dowd, who's IRA, escapes an Irish prison in a bloody jailbreak, making his way to New York City where he lives alone, avoids Irish hangouts, and works as a dishwasher. When a good deed gets him stabbed, one of the restaurant employees takes him in and finds him medical care. As Dowd recovers in the flat of Tulio and Tulio's sister Monica, he realizes that these Guatemalan exiles share his rebellious principles. When he learns they are planning a political assassination, he offers to help.