Needing to keep his honor-bound commitment, Texas ranch foreman Pete returns the body of illegal Mexican immigrant ranch-hand Melquiades Estrada to his preferred resting place in the Mexican wilderness. Estrada had been accidentally shot by Mike, a newly-arrived U.S. border patrolman. Pete forces Mike to participate in his cross-country ritual of duty - a voyage filled with revenge and redemption that will change both men forever - and bring some semblance of meaning to the senseless death of Pete's good friend.