When one of Johnny's skinhead clients - Jake Mazursky, a live-wire neo-Nazi played by Ben Foster (Six Feet Under) - fails to come up with the deal money he owes, Johnny decides to kidnap Jake's half-brother (Anton Yelchin) and hold him hostage until payment is made. But the plan's not really thought out; with no exit strategy, Johnny and his team don't know what to do with Zack when Jake refuses to pay.

So Johnny stashes him in Palm Springs, with Frankie to take him under his wing. At first, the 15-year-old Zack doesn't know what's going on - he just gets to hang with these cool rich boys and foxy babes. And even when he does find out he's ransom, Zack doesn't mind, as he's having a good time. "I think I'm just gonna ride it out," he says. See what happens."

The circumstances change when the boy's disappearance becomes a federal case and Johnny suggests that a lot of problems would go away if his boys were to just grease the kid. Meanwhile, his parents (Sharon Stone and David Thornton) don't even notice him missing for more than a day. In fact, most of the parents in Alpha Dog are either negligent or overbearing.