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A cash-strapped private investigator takes on a Hollywood client to research a 1940s child trafficking ring, only to discover the criminal network is still active and defrauding federal stimulus loans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
SYNOPSIS:
March 2020. Maryland private investigator STEVE ROCKFISH watches his business collapse as COVID lockdowns eliminate his client base. Facing repossession of his prized Dodge Challenger, “Lana,” he desperately accepts a Hollywood job researching a 1940s child trafficking ring in New Jersey for a true crime docuseries.
In Elk Township, Rockfish meets JAWNIE MCGEE, whose great-grandfather EDWARD was a local cop who vanished investigating the original crimes. Newly elected Police Chief NED HASTY has given Jawnie access to Edward's long-stored personal effects. Overwhelmed by the material, Jawnie welcomes Rockfish's expertise, sensing profit potential in their partnership.
Their investigation uncovers a multi-generational criminal conspiracy: local police collaborated with the mafia and a Catholic adoption scheme using St. Mary's Orphanage as a trafficking front, with victims' bodies dumped at the Kowalski Farm. Though the orphanage closed in 1966, Jawnie discovers it somehow received an $847,000 federal stimulus loan in 2020.
When they drive to investigate the abandoned orphanage, Jawnie's car is violently forced off a dark woods country road—a clear warning to stop. Patrolmen, still loyal to previous chief SCOTT RINGLE, monitor their every move via police scanners, reporting back.
Rockfish persists despite the warning, but Jawnie panics and reports to Chief Hasty, who suggests calling the FBI. Rockfish argues they need evidence first. After interviewing a witness's grandson, a cop at a traffic stop suggests Rockfish leave town "before something bad happens."
While Rockfish worries about their safety, Jawnie retreats home and uncovers through online research that the same criminal alliance—now led by BISHOP CLINTON O'HANLAN and mob boss JOANIE PROVOLONE—is systematically defrauding the Federal Stimulus Program through shell companies and fake documentation.
When O'Hanlan and Provolone learn Jawnie has been asking questions about church companies, they escalate beyond warnings. Provolone orchestrates Chief Hasty's suspension on false charges, reinstates corrupt Chief Ringle, and has Rockfish arrested for evidence tampering. Jawnie barely escapes with Hasty's help.
O'Hanlan demands violence, but Provolone proposes a trade: Rockfish's freedom for all digital evidence. At a popup carnival, Jawnie hands over a USB drive and promises to stop investigating. Unknown to Provolone, she's already mailed evidence to the FBI. During the exchange, a loyal officer creates a distraction allowing Rockfish to escape.
When Ringle crashes an emergency meeting demanding his cut, a minion of O'Hanlan’s strangles him with a garrote, demonstrating zero tolerance for failure. Recognizing the power shift, Provolone excuses herself and issues a mafia-wide hunt for the investigators.
The FBI, having traced Jawnie's "anonymous" tips and using existing Provolone wiretaps, arrives at Rockfish's trailer offering protection. Jawnie declines. Knowing mafia enforcers will follow the same trail, Rockfish leaves to look for a safer hiding spot.
Upon returning, Rockfish finds the FBI but no Jawnie or Hasty. Following coordinates written in her grandfather's code, he tracks them to a warehouse where he watches a corrupt cop force them into a police cruiser's trunk.
A three-way highway chase ensues—the police car racing toward I-95, FBI SUVs pursuing, and Rockfish's Challenger taking point. When traffic forces the police car into a spin at the on-ramp, Rockfish doesn't hesitate. He rams his beloved Challenger into the police car, destroying his prized possession but saving his friends as FBI agents pull them from the wreckage.
Standing shoeless on the highway shoulder, watching his destroyed car steam, Rockfish realizes he's no longer the desperate PI who took this job for grocery money. He's found something worth more than financial security: people worth fighting for.
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