Professional assassin Lucien Bellon arrives in Los Angeles from Paris and checks into the Beverly Hilton hotel under the name Roger Garnier. The hotel clerk presents Bellon with a briefcase and sealed message, explaining they were left for him by an anonymous secretary. In his room, Bellon opens the locked briefcase with the code provided by the message and finds a large amount of money and a loaded pistol. Shortly afterward, Bellon receives a telephone call from Paris informing him of the name and address of his victim: Victor Kovacs in Beverly Hills. Driving a rental car to the address, Bellon gains entrance to the Kovacs mansion by identifying himself as Garnier and waits in a lavish drawing room where Kovacs’ wife Jackie greets him before joining her son-in-law Alex by the pool. Moments later, Bellon shoots and kills the unsuspecting Kovacs and walks away down the drive while Jackie and Alex look on impassively. Returning to the hotel, Bellon is startled to learn that he has been checked out and his personal belongings, including his passport, have been removed by the unknown secretary. Confused, Bellon returns to the rental car and finds the tires slashed. Moments later a blue car drives by and its driver, Lenny, who is another hired assassin, fires on him. Escaping into the street, Bellon hides in the parked car of a young woman, Jane Barnes. When Jane returns to the car, Bellon demands at gunpoint that she take him to her apartment. There, Bellon places a call to his Paris contact, Antoine, who advises him to seek assistance from his personal friend, Nancy Robson, who runs the Ace High nightclub. Unknown to Bellon, Jane's young son Eric, overcome by curiosity of the French stranger, is listening in on the extension and when Antoine repeats the name of the club in English, drops his glass of milk. After angrily threatening Jane and Eric to tell no one of his visit, Bellon departs, only to run into Lenny in the elevator. Unable to attack the Frenchman because of other passengers, Lenny is forced to allow Bellon to drive away in Jane’s car. When Bellon gets lost on the way to the club, he picks up a hitchhiker who promises to direct him for a ride. As the hitchhiker begins a religious diatribe, neither man notices that Lenny has pulled up beside them until he pulls out his gun and fires, unintentionally killing the hitchhiker. A wild chase ensues, with Bellon escaping from Lenny before abandoning Jane’s car and taking a bus to a local Greyhound station. After cleaning up in the men’s room, Bellon hears a television news report on Kovacs’ murder and is surprised to hear that Jackie’s description of the murderer is completely opposite from him in every detail. After taking pictures of himself in a photo booth, Bellon goes outside where he pays a prostitute to take the number of a phone booth to Nancy at the Ace High. Soon after, Nancy telephones and arranges to meet Bellon at the club after her shift. Later Nancy joins Bellon, who explains that he requires a passport to return to Paris. When Nancy admits the situation is additionally difficult due to the unexpected murder of Kovacs, Bellon expresses puzzlement. Nancy reveals that Kovacs was the mob leader who controlled the region and, as well as strictly monitoring all illegal activities, had taken over the ownership of her club, reducing her to working as a topless bartender there. Adding that Alex is rumored to be involved with Jackie and will likely be a harsher boss than his father, Nancy remains dubious about being able to help Bellon, yet drives him to the rundown apartment of a friendly contact, Karl. Although Karl initially states he will be unable to provide a forged passport, when Bellon offers him a large amount of cash, he quickly changes his mind. After Karl departs with Bellon’s photos, the Frenchman insists Nancy remain at the apartment while he nervously tries to stay awake by watching television. The following day, police detective Anderson takes Jane to her car where she is unable to identify the dead hitchhiker. In a hotel room nearby, Lenny watches Jane’s televised interview and tracks her to her apartment where he questions her about Bellon. Later that morning, Nancy finds Bellon asleep and returns to her own apartment where Lenny, who has located her through the Ace High, confronts her. Forcing Nancy to take him to Karl’s apartment, Lenny is about to attack Bellon, but Nancy warns him in time. Lenny chases Bellon out of the apartment and the men exchange gunfire that attracts the police. Nancy and Bellon escape in her car as Lenny eludes the police. That afternoon as promised, Karl delivers the passport to Bellon but when Karl returns to his apartment, Lenny kills him for not providing information on Bellon. While Nancy takes Bellon to the airport, Alex and Jackie receive a report that Bellon has fled and Jackie orders plans to attack him in Paris. At the airport, Bellon realizes that the Kovacses are behind both his hit on Victor and Lenny’s attacks, and returns to Nancy. Confessing that he murdered Kovacs, Bellon explains that he is as unsafe in Paris as in Los Angeles and must resolve the situation. The next day, Bellon follows Jackie from her home to a lavish department store where she tries on dresses for the funeral. Purposely insuring that Jackie sees him, Bellon places a delivery order so that Jackie can also see his current address. Later that afternoon, as Bellon suspected, Lenny arrives at Nancy's and Bellon’s hotel rooms and Bellon disarms him. Driving Lenny back to the Kovacses, Bellon reveals that Lenny’s presence has confirmed Jackie and Alex’s involvement and attempts to convince Lenny that Alex will kill Lenny for allowing Bellon to escape again. Although Lenny agrees they should get rid of Alex and Jackie, at the mansion gate, he tries to shoot Bellon with a spare gun, but is shot down by the Frenchman. Anderson later brings Jane to identify Lenny, believing it is Bellon, and is taken aback when she provides contradictory information. Anderson then questions Alex, specifically asking him about the identity of Roger Garnier. Alex states that Garnier is the family’s French attorney who handles their business abroad, but insists that the man who killed his father was not French. Although Anderson admits he cannot yet prove it, he accuses Alex of arranging his father’s death. That night at the hotel, Bellon confides in Nancy that he only took a job outside of France because of the enormous pay, which he needs to cover significant gambling debts. Advising Bellon to return to France, Nancy also offers to accompany him. The next day at Bellon’s summons, Antoine and his partner Paul arrive from Paris in time to join Bellon at Kovacs’ funeral. While Bellon hides in the mortuary service hall, Antoine and Paul join the family entourage unnoticed. During the service, Antoine makes his presence known and within moments, a shootout begins. Terrified when he sees Bellon, Alex flees while other family members protect Jackie. In the turmoil, a guard wounds Bellon, Paul is killed and Antoine follows Alex into a room filled with caskets. Assuring the cowardly Alex he will protect him, Antoine orders him to hide in a casket then, as Bellon enters, shoots the casket repeatedly. As Anderson and the police arrive, Bellon and Antoine run in opposite directions, and Bellon steals a hearse, which he then drives after the sprinting Antoine. A police marksman shoots Antoine before he can enter the car and Bellon speeds away. Later, an increasingly anxious Nancy waits at the airport while Anderson arrests Jackie. At a beach near the airport, a young boy looks into the hearse, where Bellon sits bleeding to death.