In the fictional industrial town of Vinci, California, city manager Ben Caspere disappears before he can present plans for his development of a high-speed rail line, leaving his criminal partner Frank Semyon to pitch to Russian businessman Osip Agronov, who refuses to go through with anything until Caspere is present. Corrupt and volatile detective Ray Velcoro is tasked by Semyon with finding Caspere, finding evidence in his house of a kidnapping. Highway Patrol officer and veteran Paul Woodrugh is falsely accused of sexual misconduct by an actress he pulled over, leading him to be put on paid leave temporarily. After his girlfriend Emily inquires about the scars on his body, he abruptly leaves and speeds dangerously down a dark highway until he comes across Caspere's corpse on a bench, his eyes burned out with sulfuric acid.