Donna Stiles, April Bogenschutz, is a New Orleans journalist who, one quiet night at home, is stalked by a masked intruder who breaks in and murders her.
Her father, Mayor David Stiles, turns to Mace, David Keith, a cop-turned-bounty hunter with a stubborn streak and a personal stake in keeping the city safe, to track down Donna’s killer. Across town, Mitch McCallum, Robert Hays, Donna’s former flame who is already in trouble with the law, fights to prove his innocence as he becomes a central figure in the case.
Mace’s relationship with the city’s regular police is strained, especially with Detective Atkins, Leo Rossi. Undeterred, Mace dives headlong into the pursuit of leads, but danger escalates when a bomb wired to Mitch’s home nearly takes his life. The two men are ambushed and forced to flee, joined by Sarah, Pamela Anderson, a sex worker who witnessed the attacks and reluctantly takes cover with them.
Determined to uncover who posted Mitch’s bond and orchestrated the murder, Mace corners Bernie, Bernard Hocke, a bail bondsman, with a brutal show of force in his office. But the violence circles back when Atkins uses the same brutal method to kill Bernie, framing Mace and turning the city against him.
A turning point arrives when Mitch stages a daring rescue of Mace from a gunman in a hotel room. The trail then points toward Deputy Mayor Bob Jenkins, Stacy Keach, a powerful political operator who resents the mayor’s grip on the city. Mace discovers that Mitch is being framed and realizes Jenkins has a far more sinister plan than simple political manipulation.
The root of the scheme becomes clear: Jenkins murdered Donna to obtain a disc from her computer, a disc filled with incriminating but false material—incest allegations—that Jenkins intends to use to blackmail Mayor Stiles into dropping out of the race. Jenkins confesses to the mayor, revealing himself as the mastermind, while Atkins closes in on Mace, Mitch, and Sarah as they sprint through the bayou to stay ahead of the law.
Pinned down in a dingy clip joint, the trio faces a deadly confrontation as Mace uses an improbable weapon—a giant dart—to eliminate Atkins and turn the tide in their favor. Jenkins seizes Mayor Stiles, demanding a clean getaway, and launches a desperate attempt to flee by helicopter. In a bold move, Mace disguises himself as Jenkins’s pilot, freeing the mayor and leaping clear as the chopper roars into action.
The helicopter’s dramatic crash into a towering building erupts in a fiery explosion, killing Jenkins and saving the mayor, who is left to confront the aftermath of the city’s latest crisis. In the blaze of the aftermath, Mace’s resolve hardens, Mitch’s name is cleared, and the city breathes a wary sigh of relief as the cunning plot is finally unmasked and brought to a close.
