The Otis brothers' story picks up where it left off in the final chapter of the novel entitled They Stole My Car. Robert, the elder, trades punches with Vera the Vamp's thug husband at the Vulture Bar in Mercy Valley; while Henry, the younger, and his wife, Holly (as yet unsure whether her husband has regained sanity), head north across Mexican desert toward their home in Dangle, Wyoming. Holly will soon learn that she is pregnant but be unable to determine with certainty which brother fathered her child. She can't stand the sight of Robert, and her trust in Henry is sorely tested after he begins work on the night shift at a treatment center where a sixteen-year-old delinquent convinces him that reality is composed of dreams.

Could be the young lady's right, but even in dream world, Henry must confront his brother who, meanwhile, has embarked upon shady real estate schemes designed to cheat a longtime friend out of a sizeable inheritance. Vera comes to Dangle; Robert moves her into his apartment; the estranged husband shows up unannounced, in the mood to butt heads again. But that's Robert's nightmare, not Henry's. Younger brother only wishes his sibling would forsake paternal claim on the baby. Holly's desire is to a greater degree terminal. In her world, there will be no peace until Robert ceases to exist.