Plot summary

While giving a speech, the president is shot by a man holding a camera. The president's main bodyguard, Alex Thomas (Cuba Gooding Jr.), is grazed by the bullet that hits the president. Thomas and other Secret Service agents kill the shooter, but the president dies at the hospital. Kate Crawford (Angie Harmon), an investigative journalist, starts asking questions about the assassination. She finds that the assassin was an ex-army man, whose personal records were deleted since he left the army. He had no credit cards, no financial transactions, paid rent in cash. He didn't exist. Thomas blames himself as the bullet changed trajectory after it hit his hand.Kate finds Shakey Fuller (David Selby) at the site of the shooting and starts talking to him. Shakey is neurotic and shakes. He tells Kate that he knows where the assassin lived and takes Kate there. Unknown to both, they are under surveillance from a team living in a nearby house. Kate enters the assassin's room and searches for clues. She finds that the assassin had lung cancer. Plus, Shakey confirms that he can ID a person who came to the apartment often to meet the assassin. Her editor wants Kate to pump Shakey for more evidence. but that night Shakey ends up dead in a fire.Next Kate speaks to the assassin's sister, Thelma, who confirms that her brother was on cancer medications for a long time. Soon enough a bomb is planted next to her house and Thelma and her mother are killed. General Montgomery (Burt Reynolds) was a good friend of Alex, and he threatens Secret Service Chief Stevens with dire consequences unless he solves the murder and assassination of a US president and his good friend.Kate goes to Thomas's house to tell him what is happening. As they head to his boat, Thomas sees some men hiding in the bushes. He sees a bomb on his boat and throws Crawford into the water and dives in after her as the boat explodes. While the pair are underwater, the men move close and open fire on them. Thomas kills two of the hit-men while a third hit-man drives off to inform his boss what happened. Thomas and Crawford are able to link the hit-men (their known associate is Tony Marino in a federal prison, who tells them the link to Mike McGuire (the man whom they all worked for in DC)). Kate and Thomas visit DC, but McGuire is hit by a car just before their meeting. Thomas runs after the car, but they manage to get away. Thomas and Kate investigate the custom grill on the car. The grill is a special job and only one shop in DC is authorized to install it, owned by Alexis International.Kate knows that some years ago she investigated Alexis for carrying out illegal internal operations for US Govt, but couldn't prove anything. The hit-men were employed by Alexis and Thomas is able to recognize the driver of the car Philip Keifer (Peter Greene), one of the men currently employed by Alexis.Thomas goes to his boss Stevens. Stevens wants 2 days to give Thomas a team to storm Alexis and investigate further. Thomas calls Montgomery for help, and he assigns a team to help Thomas attack Alexis HQ in DC. Philip plans an ambush and blows up the HQ as Thomas and the team enters.Thomas and Kate pursue Philip but have to give up when Philip threatens to shoot at a school bus, full with kids, coming their way. But then Thomas drives down the mountain and crashes his car into Philip to capture him. He is unconscious and moved to a hospital. Montgomery tells Thomas that Philips real name is Jack Baldwin, who was a contract killer for the CIA. Jack worked for Stevens back then.Thomas and Crawford become suspicious of Vaughan Stevens (James Woods), Thomas's boss, who had previous links to Baldwin. While reviewing film of the assassination, Thomas discovers that Stevens handed the assassin a gun during the president's entrance. Thomas leaves to find Stevens while Crawford stays at his house.When Thomas arrives at Stevens' home, he finds him dead. Thomas sees a car (with a woman inside) leaving the house. He then receives a call that Baldwin has escaped. Baldwin attacks Crawford, but Thomas arrives and kills him. Thomas arrives at the first lady's (Anne Archer) house to see the car that left Stevens' house pulling away. Thomas discovers that the first lady wanted her husband killed because he was being unfaithful to her. A few weeks later Crawford and Thomas have dinner. Thomas decides that protecting the dead president's reputation is more important than implicating his widow, and tells Crawford that he still does not know who wanted the president dead.