In 1967 Buffalo, New York, Thomas “Hack” Hacklin, Jr., a Dunlap tire factory worker, babysits his children, Andy and Junie, while his former wife, Ruthie Hacklin, and her boyfriend, Jack Scolese, go out for the evening. At the party, Jack introduces Ruthie to his Mafia associates. Later, Jack and another gangster rob the city treasury. At a bar, Hack’s friend, Matty Stanek, introduces him to Alisa, an elementary school teacher. After small talk, Matty invites Alisa, whose nickname is Ali, to join Hack at the tire plant’s annual “Spring Fling” dance. As she accepts, Hack overhears a television news report that Scolese is wanted in connection with the treasury robbery. Offering his apologies to Alisa, Hack ends the date. Later, Hack and Ruthie argue about Scolese and his affect on the children. After five days in hiding, Scolese has a meeting with mobster Bobby Momisa, who admonishes him for committing the robbery on his own. Momisa tells Scolese to marry Ruthie to exempt her from testifying at his trial and to bolster his image. He also orders Scolese to turn himself in to the authorities, and assures Scolese that mob lawyers will represent him in court. When Ruthie tells Hack she married Scolese, who is in police custody, he is shocked and worried how the new arrangement will affect his children. Hack voices the same concerns to Ali when they step away from the Spring Fling after a fight erupts. Soon, they continue their date over a cup of coffee. At the police station, detective Sam Marzetta and Jason R. Reid from the Justice Department ask Scolese to be an informant in exchange for a new identity, as part of the new witness protection program. As time passes, Hack and Ali grow closer and share their first kiss. Meanwhile, Ruthie visits Scolese in jail, complaining that the bills are piling up, but she has not gotten any support from Momisa or his associate, Pete Fiacco. While Scolese’s friends disappear, Marzetta brings groceries to Ruthie everyday. In court, Scolese testifies against Momisa and Fiacco, and afterward, Marzetta whisks Scolese away to be relocated. When Hack picks up his children, his wife’s house is empty and everyone is gone. The neighbor tells him that Ruthie and the children packed up and left at midnight. Hack files a police report, but after five days with no word, Ali encourages him to contact Marzetta. Hack approaches Marzetta at a diner; however, the detective evades his questions and leaves. Next, Hack appears at Reid’s office to get some answers, but is told Reid is unavailable. At dinner, Marzetta and Reid discuss the possibility that Hack is being used by the mob to uncover Scolese’s whereabouts. Meanwhile, Ali knows Hack is in a bind and makes an appointment for him to see Sal Carvello, an attorney who is very interested in the case. After meeting with Hack and Ali, Sal warns that a case against the government can last for years. Sal then contacts Lee McHugh at the Evening News. When Sal meets Lee at the gym, he explains that Hack served as a Marine for six years, minds his business, but then his children were stolen. He asks Lee to assign the story to one of his investigative reporters. Soon, Reid nervously shows Marzetta two stories in the newspaper about Hack’s predicament, and worries that the exposure is interfering with the program’s mandate to keep a low profile. In court, Sal argues the unfairness of Hack losing contact with his children because of their new identities. Richard Fieldston, the attorney for the government, argues that the mother has primary custody, and it made sense for the whole family to assume new identities once Scolese testified. After the hearing, Hack is discouraged and too upset to talk with reporters. In the parking lot, he sees Fieldston’s fancy sports car, and rams into it with his vehicle. One night, Hack’s mother is confused by a collect call, and the caller hangs up. Hack realizes immediately that the call is from Ruthie. When his mother remembers the call was placed from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Hack journeys there, but discovers he is being followed. He turns back when he assesses the situation is too dangerous. Later, Marzetta agrees to a meeting and apologizes for the way in which Hack’s life has been turned around. He asks for one year to make things right and encourages Hack to start a letter-writing campaign. Soon, Sal arranges for Hack to fly to Washington, D. C., where he has a brief meeting with Congressman Evetts. The politician promises to help, but when Hack returns home he decides he is through listening. He threatens Reid’s secretary to obtain Scolese’s current address in Albuquerque, New Mexico, then takes a plane to find his family. Confronted by Hack, Scolese says that Hack can find Ruthie and the children at a motel down the road. His family is not in the motel room, but at a diner across the street. The children see him through the window and run to embrace him. Hack takes custody of Andy and Junie. He tells Ruthie she can visit them anytime.