Intelligent, cultured Henry Fell Shannon is a "bodyguard extraordinaire" who is for hire to prevent assassinations or take on other humanitarian tasks. A New York editor assigns his associate society editor, Peggy Harriman, to get a "true adventure feature" on Shannon. Meanwhile, a "trigger boy" from the 1940's, Joey Wilson, is getting out of jail after twenty years, and the syndicate wants him dead for ratting on some key men during his stay in prison. To get her story, Harriman poses as a friend of Wilson's, and hires Shannon to get Wilson safely to Mexico and an anonymous existence.