On an Air Force base, an interrogator prepares a witness to testify against mob boss Frank Matajano. A driver delivers takeout to the interrogation room; when opened, it explodes and the witness is killed. In court, the judge calls a recess until the attorney general can present solid evidence against [Matajano], and the attorney general demands that U.S. marshal Pat Schiller secure the proof within 72 hours to replace the slain witness.
On a chain gang, an inmate harasses Dodge, who fights back. Piper intervenes, the guards chain them together, and a chaotic escape unfolds as the assailant grabs a gun and a shootout erupts. The cop who arrested Dodge, Matthew 'Gib' Gibson, collects a magazine at the scene, and a fellow officer later reveals that the attorney general asked him to place Dodge on the chain gang against protocol. Dodge explains he needs to escape to recover the $5 million he stole, and Piper insists on a share for helping him.
Matajano orders a hit to retrieve a computer disc from Dodge, tying the stakes directly to the money and the case the attorney general is pursuing. Gibson grows suspicious as the threads start to pull together, and he uncovers that the company linked to the money doesn’t press charges and is owned by Matajano. The plan shifts as Matajano’s men close in, and the hunt intensifies.
Escaping further, Dodge and Piper are cornered by a hunter, whom Piper defeats, saving them both. They hijack his car and press on, eventually meeting a woman named Cora who drives them to a hideout. After changing clothes, the pair split up for a moment—Dodge keeps going with his mission while Piper passes him the harmonica for luck. Dodge heads to a strip club to meet his hacking partner, Puffy, only to find Matajano’s thugs closing in, killing his girlfriend and binding him to a brutal ordeal.
Piper arrives to pull Dodge out of danger, and the two escape again amid a flurry of gunfights. Gibson, who had hired a private investigator to gather information on Dodge, reappears on the scene, but the pressure continues to mount as the disc’s location remains elusive. A crucial clue on Dodge’s motorcycle points them toward the Georgia Dome, where the disc seems to lie, and Cora lends a hand to guide them.
The chase heats up as Matajano’s men close in on the fugitives and a climactic gunfight erupts. The party makes a dramatic ascent toward Stone Mountain in a skycar, the marshal believed to be dead resurfaces and presses for the disc, and a tense showdown unfolds. In the end, Piper and Dodge manage to hand the disc off to the attorney general atop the mountain, the case is closed in their favor, and Piper is reinstated in his job in New York.
