When a priest is murdered after happening upon a briefcase full of illicit money belonging to a deadly Russian crime boss, a seasoned cop and a cynical crook team up to protect the innocent nun who finds herself in possession of the case.

SYNOPSIS:

We open on a deserted street in Manhattan, where MISSY TORRANCE, a mysterious young woman, runs from gunfire. Injured, she staggers into St. Francis Cathedral, where she runs into FATHER RICHARD, a demure British priest, collapsing at his feet. He at-tempts to staunch the bleeding, but it's too late. She asks him to give her his blessings, then hands him a briefcase before perishing. Richard opens the briefcase to find that it's filled with numerous stacks of hundred dollar bills. Richard quickly hides the briefcase, afraid of who might be after it. Just then, SPARKY CALORADO, a seasoned crook, en-ters the cathedral in search of Missy. Richard lies and tells Sparky that he hasn't seen any young woman, nor her briefcase. Though he is apologetic about it, Sparky knocks Richard unconscious, then looks around but comes up empty.

Sparky returns to his boss, a fearsome Russian mobster named PROPHET, along with his goons, TIGER, BLADE, and JACK. Prophet is furious to find that the briefcase has gone missing. He tasks Sparky with finding the money by the next day -- and if he doesn't, it's his head on the line. Back at the cathedral, Richard looks through Missy's things and learns that she was a surgeon at St. Francis Hospital. Later, FATHER JOHN, another seemingly jovial priest, unwittingly leads Sparky to Richard. Sparky tells Richard that Missy was entrusted with performing heart surgery on a mob boss, only for the man's enemies to come in and assassinate him. The boss' son entrusted this briefcase filled with money to Missy for safe keeping. Using veiled terms, Sparky alludes to a "friend" of his who works with a rival operation, which is now pursuing Richard in order to get the case back. Again, Richard won't admit to having the case, which Sparky warns him could jeopardize his safety.

On his way out, Sparky is attacked by two African-American gangsters, ORAN and OR-GAN, who nearly kill him. He manages to get loose, only to be shot at by Blade and Jack. Richard is stunned to witness this scene. Blade and Jack pursue Sparky to a bo-dega, where he uses a makeshift Molotov cocktail to burn Jack and escape. Later, Oran and Organ attempt to kill Sparky at his apartment, but he kills them both. Father Richard then calls Sparky and finally admits that he found the case. He tells Sparky that he's go-ing to leave the case with a nun named SISTER ANN. Moved by extreme emotion, he then confesses to Sparky that, in fact, he has a child -- and thus has broken his vows as a priest. We learn that Sparky's phone has been bugged by Bishop.

Richard meets with Sister Ann and struggles to convince her to accept this dangerous task. Eventually, he tells her of Missy's sacrifice and gets her on board, informing her that he's headed to the Vatican for a meeting that had been planned in advance. Bishop and his goons approach Richard outside of the church and interrogate him. He tries to deny the allegations, but Bishop ends up brutally murdering him right in the parking lot. This sparks a media firestorm in the city as the police swarm the scene. Among them, we find DETECTIVE MYER, a weathered vet of the force, and his glib partner DETEC-TIVE MICHAEL. They're given a directive from CHIEF JOHNSON to solve this case ASAP, as he's under a great deal of pressure from the Catholic mayor.

The detectives interview Father John, who tells them that he saw Richard meeting with a suspicious man shortly before his death. Just then, John happens to spot Sparky, who's pulling up across the street. He screeches off before the Detectives can get his license plate number. Sister Ann packs up to leave when she is confronted by her dear friend SISTER MAUREEN, who can sense there is something "off". Sister Ann gives Maureen an envelope for her to hand to Sparky if he comes around looking for her. Later, Sparky shows up searching for Ann and meets up with Maureen. Just then, Bishop and his men show up and start shooting at them. Sparky saves Maureen's life, but the police arrive and arrest him as their prime suspect anyway.

Myer and Michael interview Sparky. He is tired of being part of a cycle of senseless vio-lence and thus tells them about Bishop, but Detective Michael isn't buying it. Sparky then explains that his father was a mafia hitman who killed a leader of the Columbian cartel. Myer has a personal connection to this angle, because his father was a cop that was killed by a corrupt officer on the mob boss' payroll. Sparky goes on to explain that Bishop was a small time Russian hood who rose to power and murdered the mob boss in the hospital, thus leading to the briefcase full of money being in his sights. Sparky explains that he was dispatched by the mob boss to infiltrate Bishop's operation from the inside, only to end up in too deep, forced to refuse to do things that went against his moral code. He also warns Myer that their department is filled with crooked cops, some of whom are reporting to Bishop. Myer is intrigued, while Michael tries to convince him that it's all a pack of lies.

Sparky calls Sister Ann -- who left her number for him on the paper she gave to Maureen. He warns her and Maureen to stay out of the convent, telling her they're both in danger. She tells him that if anything happens to her, he can find the money at the headstone of a specific gravestone in Greenwood Cemetery. Sister Ann goes to stay at her family home, only to find Bishop and his goons already inside. They torture her and force her to take them to the cemetery, but she won't give up the location of the case. Frustrated, Bishop snaps and accidentally shoots Ann, killing her. Myer appeals to the Chief to agree to work with Sparky in order to take down Bishop. Michael is very much against it, but Chief Johnson agrees to proceed. Myer releases Sparky from prison and, together, they head to Ann's home, only to find her gone. Maureen shows up, also look-ing for Ann. They trace her to Greenwood Cemetery. At this point, we reveal learn that Detective Michael is in fact the mole in the NYPD, working for Bishop. He tips them off to the fact that Myer is getting too close to the truth.

A public funeral is held for Richard at St. Francis. Chief Johnson dispatches a SWAT team to the scene, based on Sparky's tip that Bishop will show up there to take Maureen. However, the mission is botched and a public shootout ensues, causing a massive stampede. Amidst the chaos, Bishop and his men manage to kidnap Maureen. Furious, Chief Johnson orders that Sparky be arrested and strips Myer of his badge. However, Sparky successfully escapes from custody. He goes to a nightclub, where he meets up with his girlfriend, sultry and loving singer HESTER.

Tiger and the other goons set about torturing Maureen to get the location of the money, placing her into a room full of snakes. Sparky calls an enraged Detective Myer, telling him that he knows where the money is and that he'll give Myer a share if he helps him get to it. Sparky goes to meet up with his associates, three heavily armed trapper thugs -- KILLUMINATI, the leader, AFRICA, a foreign national, and VIRUS, a white boy tweak-er. He teams with them to take down Bishop's safe house. Back at St. Francis, we see Father John manically searching through Father Richard's belongings for something, but coming up empty. He then goes to meet with the regal, high ranking BISHOP MAU-RICE, who tells him that he needs to look through Father Richard's room.

Father John goes there and begins scouring, eventually coming upon a black diary. Upon reading it, we learn that Father Richard harbored numerous secrets. First, that he had sexual relations with a woman who confessed to him under the influence of narcotics, getting her pregnant. He then demanded that she abort the child. They got into an argu-ment, he accidentally knocked her down and she died upon hitting a table. He dumped the body, but the baby managed to survive and he's been wracked with guilt ever since. Secondly, and more shockingly, he reveals that the Parish's prior Bishop, Charles, was murdered. Charles caught Maurice and John misappropriating church funds. He gave them three days to return the money, or he'd tell the Vatican. Richard went to Maurice's office to speak to him, only to inadvertently witness Maurice and John killing Charles. This was all recorded via a secretly placed video camera. Maurice and John covered up this crime, but Richard was overcome with guilt. He contacted a newspaper editor and gave him a copy of the murder video, telling him to hold off on publishing it until he got back from the Vatican -- which is due to occur imminently. John is completely terrified.

Myer meets with Sparky and Hester at the club. Sparky has realized there's a rat inside the NYPD and accuses Myer, who grows indignant. Sparky then gives Myer Bishop's cell phone number and asks him to have his police connections run a trace to see who he's been in contact with. The two of them then make their plan to go after Bishop. Father John consults with Maurice about their predicament. They realize the only way out of this situation is to get after the journalist and stop him from printing the story.

Myer, Sparky, and Killuminati's crew attack Bishop's safe house and a massive firefight ensues. Sparky gets the briefcase and injects Bishop with a deadly neurotoxin without his knowledge, but he is unable to extricate Maureen.

Myer calls Bishop and sets up a time for them to meet up and exchange -- the briefcase for Sister Maureen. Tensions flare within the group when Killuminati's crew learns that Myer is an ex-cop, but the situation is mollified when Myer agrees to smoke weed with them. Sparky tells Killuminati that he and his guys will also receive a share of the money. Father John shows up at the home of PIERCE, the journalist, and his wife. He talks his way inside under the cover of being a man of the cloth, only to brutally murder them both. Father John attempts to escape for the Canadian border, but gets into a car acci-dent and dies. The truth about Maurice comes out and the cathedral is besieged with protestors. Shamed, Maurice commits suicide before the police can reach him. Hester begs Sparky to leave this lifestyle behind, but he tells her he has to do this one last thing. He promises her that he'll come back. Detective Myer receives the results of the phone tap on Bishop and is stunned to discover that it was none other than Michael, all along. He tells Chief Johnson to meet him at the cemetery, where the drop off is set.

At the cemetery, Bishop and his gang roll up with Maureen to do the exchange. Bishop starts coughing and Sparky reveals that he's poisoned him with the neurotoxin. Just then, Killuminati hands over the briefcase, which has a secret explosive device attached to it. A blast sends Bishop and his men scattering. Sister Maureen takes off running while Myer provides cover for her against Bishop's snipers. Africa and Virus take down the snipers. Sparky and Tiger furiously clash in a vicious knock-down fight. Sparky man-ages to kill Tiger, only to be shot through the chest by Bishop. At the last minute, Sparky grabs Tiger's pistol and shoots Bishop. Myer then rushes in and finishes Bishop off, but it's too late -- Sparky's wounds are fatal. Maureen prays after his body, forgiving his sins before he dies, and he finds redemption. Chief Johnson arrives on the scene with Mi-chael, who he has arrested upon learning that he was the crooked mole. In the end, My-er, Killuminati's crew, and Maureen show up at the club, where they break the heart-breaking news to Hester. Maureen and Myer share a kiss, hinting at a romantic future together.