Ray accepts his uncle's generosity, never suspecting he'll become trapped in a web of terror....Ray Bond's Uncle Ed had always been a shadowy figure, with little interest in his nephew. On Ray's eighteenth birthday, Ed gives him thirty thousand dollars in cash. He makes Ray swear he'll never tell where he got it.The next day Uncle Ed leaps from the twelfth floor of his midtown hotel.Stunned, Ray keeps his promise and withholds his secret from his grieving mother and Laurie, his girlfriend. Keeping his word is harder when he hears from Uncle Ed's girlfriend, Alice Cobb. She tells him about Ed's gambling debts and her conviction that his uncle didn't jump, but was pushed from the window.Ray also hears from Albert Dawson, the sadistic thug who may be responsible for Ed's death. He tells Ray that Ed owed him money. Furthermore, he knows where that money is. Ray senses Dawson is not the kind of guy to cross, not if you value your life....