It is based on the novel Money Men by former U.S. Secret Service agent Gerald Petievich, who co-wrote the screenplay.

[1] The film opens with Treasury Agent Jimmy Mercer (Wesley Snipes) and his partner Brady (Dan Hedaya) doing some undercover work, when Mercer's fellow agent is shot and killed by a new man, Ronnie (Viggo Mortensen), whom criminal Rudolph "Red" Diamond (Dennis Hopper) pulled out of jail.

Now on a snap of anger and thoughts of revenge, Mercer wants to find the killer and take him down before he gets transferred to Newark.

He manipulates Ronnie into a crime spree culminating in the murder of the boss and ransacking his apartment.

The epilogue reveals that Jimmy and Vicky moved together to Newark, New Jersey, while Red was sentenced to life without parole for his crimes.