Jane Washburn, an undercover policewoman, witnesses three youths beat up and rob Kimble. She attends to him, but becomes suspicious after he declines to report his mugging to the police. So, she handcuffs herself to Kimble to arrest him, but he manages to flee the area with her. After Jane sprains her ankle after hopping off a freight train, they break into an abandoned farm house so Kimble can attend to her, as well as saw off the handcuffs. But the family who lives there soon returns and Kimble is held at gunpoint by the domineering and rabid patriarch of the family.

Kimble meets Joe Tucker, another fugitive whom claims that he was wrongly convicted for embezzlement four years earlier and wants to return to his hometown to kill the bank officer he claims framed him. When Kimble is arrested for driving Joe's truck which was stolen, Joe's teenage daughter, Sarah, tries to get Kimble to reveal the location of her father claiming that the real culprit, whom died recently, had confessed to the crime before he died. Kimble manages to escape from the jail and tries to find Joe before he kills an innocent man. But the police uncover Kimble's true identity and set out to capture both him and Joe.

Kimble, working as a bartender in a local diner, becomes involved with waitress Susan Cartwright. But their growing romance is complicated by the arrival of Susan's orphaned nephew Gary, who is trying to break into a small group of local boys. When Gary recognizes Kimble from growing up in Stafford, Gary tells them of his find and they decide to capture the fugitive with a rifle they purchase from a magazine ad. Meanwhile, Susan's social worker, Mr. Shaw, investigates Susan and her ability to raise Gary, but then focuses on Kimble.