In a warehouse in London, Karel shows Grigor Caron slides of Princess Elaine and explains that she's under close guard since her marriage to Prince Arkadi. Karel has little more to add, and Grigor pays him off for betraying his country, putting the money in the case. Grigor takes the case and Karel handcuffs it to his wrist and claims that it's a dangerous neighborhood and gives Grigor the key. As Grigor leaves, he asks what will happen to Elaine. Karel tells him that he knows as much as he needs.
Outside, Grigor gets into his car and discovers that the key doesn't work. Karel watches from the window as the bomb in the case blows up.
Later, Jim picks up his briefing at a sculling boat storage shed. He's informed that Elaine Merchison is the daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Valence, and met and fell in love with Prince Arkadi. Valence has been allied with the Warsaw Pact, but Elaine has convinced Arkadi to negotiate an alliance with the West and is democratizing his own country. Grigor leads the Valence Red Guard and is anti-American, and has vowed to prevent Valence's alliance with the West. He is paying $1 million to an assassin to kill Elaine, and the IMF must prevent the assassination and bring Grigor to justice.
At the apartment, Jim tells the team that the Red Guard has bankrupted itself paying for the assassin. Elaine refuses to leave Valence and is hosting an annual film festival, and the country's economy is largely based on tourism. The team will set up base in an abandoned warehouse and convert it to a film studio.
In Valence, the team renovates the warehouse and set up an area marked "Detention Cells". That night, Shannon and Jim arrive at the film festival casino posing as a producer and his star. Grant and Max are watching from a nearby van, having tapped into the surveillance cameras. They check the attendees against the data files and clear everyone.
Later, Nicholas and Grant go to a bar on the waterfront. Nicholas pays the bartender $100 to put him in touch with the Red Guard. Grant taps the bar phone, and Grigor and his lieutenant Pavel approach Nicholas. Nicholas says that he works for an armored car company that services the local casino, wants more money, and has a plan to rob one of the armored cars. He wants the Red Guard to help him do it, and Pavel draws a knife on Nicholas.
Grant watches as his teammate is threatened, then uses the tap to transfer the call to the warehouse. Shannon answers posing as the secretary of the armored car company, and confirms that Nicholas works there. Satisfied, Grigor goes back to the table and Nicholas calls his "partner" Grant over. Grant describes the armored car route and the security precautions. Grigor figures that he'll take all the risks, and Pavel insults Nicholas. Nicholas shoves him to the floor and tells him to shut up, and Grigor admits that he may have may have underestimated Nicholas.
The next day, Max gives Grant a diamond drill. Jim warns that the real guards have no knowledge of the operation, and Grant dons a bulletproof vest. Later, Grant and Nicholas meet Grigor and they follow the armored car leaving the casino. Pavel sets up a construction barrier to redirect the armored car, while Grant gets into a nearby cherry picker. The armored car arrives and Grant drops onto it when it diverts to a side road. He drills into the roof of the cab and pumps anesthetic gas in, knocking out the driver and guard. Nicholas pulls in front of the armored car with his car and brakes, stopping it, while Grant sets a remote control on the gas canister.
Once Nicholas uses an explosive charge to blow open the driver's door, the others pull the two men out. Grant signals the others, while Nicholas and Grigor get in and drive off. Once they're away, Grant triggers the gas and Nicholas tells Grigor that Grant forgot to turn it off. Grigor passes out and Nicholas put on a rebreather.
Grigor wakes up at the warehouse in the supposed detention cells. Max is posing as a policeman interrogating them with Jim looking on, and Max beats Nicholas. They demand information about the assassination, and Jim tells Grigor that they know about the assassination and if they keep Grigor, the assassination won't take place. Grigor denies everything, and Jim claims that Pavel talked but died before they could get the details. Grigor says that the assassination will take place even without them, and Jim shoots Nicholas dead. Grigor stares at Jim, shocked, and Jim threatens to shoot him unless he talks.
As Grant and Shannon watch on a CCTV, Grigor cracks and says that they hired a professional killer codenamed Coyote. Grigor doesn't know what he looks like, and Coyote's partner takes the job on the killer's behalf. Once the contract is out, it can't be cancelled. Jim believes him and says that Pavel is in custody. Nicholas gets up, revealing that the team used squibs and blanks to simulate the shooting. Shannon comes in and says that they taped the entire thing and will turn the tape over to the police. Nicholas shoots Grigor with a tranq dart, knocking him out, and they take him away.
Grant confirms that Coyote is real, and he's killed several public figures with different MOs. There are no fingerprints on the killer. Shannon calls the police and reports the armored car near the river bank with a man in it. Max handcuffs the unconscious Grigor in the cab of the armored car and leaves.
When Max returns, Grant discovers that each murder was committed in front of hundreds of witnesses. They figure Coyote likes an audience and has Grant extract all of the data. They set up a major press conference with Nicholas posing as a reporter. Jim says that they put their original film on the back burner and are doing a new film about Coyote.
Coyote's "accomplice" is exercising in a hotel room and sees a broadcast of the press conference. Jim introduces Max as the new star of his production, and Max says that he's playing Coyote with Shannon playing Elaine. Intrigues, the woman watches the press conference. Grant is posing as the writer, and says that he knows more about Coyote then the police and Interpol do and the movie is based on a crime that is about to happen. Jim cuts Grant off and the woman wonders how much Grant does know. She turns off the TV and plans to pay the film studio a visit... with a gun.
That night, Coyote breaks into the warehouse, cuts off the fuse box, and looks around. She finds the tape of Grigor telling the team about the woman who walks for Coyote. Coyote hears a car pull up and shuts down the player. Jim and Shannon come in, and Shannon realizes that someone is there. Coyote shoots, hitting Shannon when she pushes Jim aside, and then dives out a second-story window. She fires at Grant when he comes over to investigate, and runs off after he takes cover. Grant goes after Coyote but she gets to her car and escapes.
The team take Shannon to the hospital and the doctors work on her throughout the night. Jim says that the warehouse was dark, and Grant points out that Shannon realized Coyote was there. He goes back to the warehouse to look for clues.
The doctor lets Jim visit Shannon after she comes out of surgery. She wakes up as Jim takes her hand and mutters a word: "Camion". Nicholas relays it to Grant and says that the doctors think Shannon will pull through. Grant checks the databanks and confirms that Camion is a perfume and realizes that Shannon smelled it. They figure that Coyote is a woman.
In her hotel room, Coyote rigs a tape player to explode.
Grant rigs up a laser spectrometer to analyze the unique combination of Camion and the genetic samples that Coyote left when she broke into the warehouse. When he finds a match, they can identify Coyote.
When Jim goes back to the hospital, he assures Shannon that she provided the information they need to identify Coyote. He thanks Shannon for saving his life, and figures that Coyote will strike during the awards presentation that night.
Coyote dresses as a male reporter.
Grant tours the crowd as the casino, scanning each of them for a match with the swab he took at the warehouse. He only scans the women, and doesn't get a match. Jim arrives and goes inside with Max, and Nicholas enters with the other reporters. Jim tells Grant to keep on checking and joins Max at their table.
Coyote comes in as the presentation begins. Elaine and Arkadi make their entrance, and Coyote slips the tape player onto the podium. As she walks out, she interrupts the laser beam that Grant is using to scan the female guests. The scanner shows a match, and Grant realizes who Coyote is. He yells to Max, and Max and Nicholas go after Coyote while Grant finds the bomb and throws it out the window... that Coyote has just dived through to make her escape. Jim confirms that Coyote is dead.
The next day, the agents all bring Shannon flowers and she says that four boyfriends are enough.
Written by Gadfly on Sep 17, 2018