Billy Cord is a haunted man who has lived in hell for ten years. On October twentieth, nineteen seventy-nine, which was exactly ten years ago tonight, his life changed forever. He has never been able to escape the guilt or deal with the pain and torment which has gnawed slowly away at his soul. The reminder is constant. She is confined to a wheelchair because of him. Julie Banter was his girlfriend at the time, now she is his wife, and he feels that he has ruined her life. Ten years of hell. For Billy, now twenty-seven, the heavy debt that he's been slowly paying off these last ten years is about to be paid in full.Billy's struggle is not the only one that will be resolved on this night. Another friend of Billy's unexpectedly shows up carrying his own torment from their teenage years. Vic Stern was the man behind the trigger in an accidental shooting which left a friend dead. His escape to the Marines helped, but he soon finds that the past always remains when you come back home. As if the cold October storm which hovers over this night hadn't wreaked enough havoc there is yet another crisis coming to a head. Roy Brill is a jealous man who is unwilling to accept that his marriage is coming to an end. He is on a collision course with the town cop, who was once his best friend, and who must once again find the faith that he lost ten years ago when an accident that paralyzed his sister occurred on his watch.