Jerry Logan, Andrew McCarthy is a Las Vegas cab driver who picks up a nervous passenger offering him $100 to reach the airport as fast as possible. Unbeknownst to Logan, the rider has just stolen $1 million from Al Chambers, a mob-connected casino manager who had skimmed the money from mob boss August Gurino. Fearing Gurino’s wrath, Chambers dispatches assassins to recover the cash. Although the would-be thief is killed, Logan escapes with the money and vanishes. Desperate, Chambers hires an expensive hitman, David Eckhart, Scott Glenn, who tracks Logan to his home. Logan escapes again and flees the city by train. Before leaving, he confides in a friendly waitress, but Eckhart pressures her into revealing Logan’s destination, and she is killed as Eckhart closes in, continuing the pursuit.
In Salt Lake City, Eckhart captures Logan but loses him at the airport as Logan boards a flight for Los Angeles. Eckhart then coordinates with his associate Derek Mills, John Glover, who pays off the cab drivers at the Los Angeles airport. With no other options, Logan climbs into Mills’ cab, who kidnaps him at gunpoint and brings him to his own home. There, Mills tortures Logan by boiling his feet in water to break him, but Logan overpowers Mills and escapes with the money. Logan collapses on a street and is taken to a hospital, where he meets nurse Chris Altman, Janet Gunn, who treats his wounds and hides his involvement when Eckhart comes looking. Mills, meanwhile, is in the hospital and overhears that Altman has taken Logan to a hotel for safety; he alerts Eckhart.
Although Logan urges Altman to leave, Eckhart arrives before she can, and the two escape together, depositing the money in a safety deposit box before heading to Altman’s house. There, Logan and Altman share a night together, and when Logan wakes, Eckhart waits in the kitchen. Logan proposes a deal: he will split the money with Eckhart if Eckhart allows both him and Altman to survive. Eckhart agrees and heads to Las Vegas, where he carries out Gurino’s orders to kill Chambers and his wife. Back in Los Angeles, Logan tries to ambush Eckhart but fails, and Eckhart, frustrated by Logan’s reluctance to deliver the cash, orders Mills to beat Altman. Logan reveals that he has hidden the money in the basement, and Eckhart kills Mills when Mills offers to retrieve it.
The two men descend into the basement, where Logan disarms Eckhart. Eckhart, armed with a knife, stalks Logan through the dark, taunting him as he lands blows. Although Logan lands a brief surprise, Eckhart easily overpowers him and moves in for the kill. Logan counterattacks with a wooden plank, and a nail in the plank impales Eckhart, killing him. Now more cautious, Logan and Altman leave the country under assumed names, paying cash for their tickets as they begin a new life abroad.
