 Ten-year-old Finnegan "Finn" Bell, an orphan being raised by his elder sister Maggie and her boyfriend Joe, is playing on a beach in the Gulf Coast when an escaped convict overpowers him.Finn must promise to bring back food, medicine and bolt cutters to get the iron shackles off his leg.Finn complies, but is taken hostage and the convict tries to escape to Mexico but the police seize his small boat.