In Seattle, Nelson Crowe, a former CIA officer, is recruited by Vic Grimes for a role inside his clandestine firm, The Toolshed. The organization hires people with intelligence backgrounds to provide covert services such as extortion and corporate espionage for both domestic and foreign clients, operating in the shadows of business and power.
Grimes' right hand, Margaret Wells, begins working with Crowe and quickly seduces him, hinting at a dangerous plan to murder Grimes and seize control of the operation. Curl Industries, the firm’s top client, faces a class-action lawsuit alleging poisoning of a town’s water supply, resulting in the birth of disabled children. To tilt the scales, Grimes entrusts Crowe with a $1 million payoff to bribe a state Supreme Court justice, Judge Justin Beach, and tip the verdict in Curl Industries’ favor.
Tod Stapp(/actor/michael-beach) and Crowe orchestrate behind-the-scenes leverage by purchasing Beach’s gambling debt from Bobby Birdsong and gathering information on Beach’s personal life through Les Goodwin. During a secret progress report meeting, Crowe’s hidden motive is revealed: he is a CIA mole, though not by choice, tied to a past episode where he was suspected of taking a bribe meant for an Iraqi official.
Crowe’s former boss, William V. 'Smitty' Smithfield, becomes a tool for pressure as the CIA seeks to turn the Toolshed into a black-ops hub, with Smitty at the helm. Crowe secretly records exchanges and signs a receipt under duress, while Stapp extracts a payoff to keep Crowe’s true allegiance under wraps.
Beach accepts the bribe and, with his mistress Julie Ames, signs a receipt to secure Beach’s cooperation. He purchases tickets for a flight to the Caribbean and sends Julie ahead, intending to leave his wife. Yet when Beach reneges on his agreement and votes against Curl Industries, he ultimately takes his own life.
Despite this setback, Wells and Crowe press forward with their plan to eliminate Grimes. Wells spends a romantic weekend with Grimes at his fishing cabin, while Crowe slips in, shoots Grimes, and then beats Wells to make the death appear to be the result of a botched robbery. The two then seize control of The Toolshed, though Wells has cooled toward Crowe, using him to advance her own ambitions.
Julie learns of Beach’s death and travels to Europe, sending postcards to Goodwin who in turn sells information back to Crowe. Crowe presents this to Wells, who orders him to locate and kill Julie because her knowledge could unravel the bribery plot. Les Goodwin’s intelligence becomes ammunition for both sides, and the CIA’s broader plan to seize power becomes clearer.
Sensing the threat, Julie buys a gun from Goodwin and goes to Crowe’s apartment to exact revenge for Beach’s death. She arrives just as Wells arrives, and a chaotic shootout erupts, with Crowe and Wells shooting each other dead. Julie survives, discovering Crowe’s briefcase containing incriminating evidence, including the taped conversations with Smitty and the signed receipt.
She burns the receipt and mails the tape to the U.S. Attorney’s office, exposing the corrupt nexus between the CIA and The Toolshed. With the evidence in hand, Julie leaves town for good, stepping into an uncertain future alone.
