Sitting in his rental car, Bil Sheering tells Victor Brown on the phone that the meeting has finished and that it had lasted for a half hour and that the attendants had settled on a payment of $150,000. Sheering watches in the parking lot as a customer walks out of Earl’s, an exotic dance emporium, where the meeting has just taken place. 

Bil is a man in his mid-forties of medium build and his name is short for Biloxi, Mississippi where he was stationed in the service. He tells Victor that “the occurrence” will happen on May 6, allowing for two months of training and picking up equipment. Bil reflects on the mission and reveals that the end goal is killing a U.S. presidential candidate. 

On the morning of May 6, the owner of The Gun Shack watched as an emotionless man entered the shop and bought two boxes of twenty expensive ammo. The man doesn’t say anything as he checks out, which the owner finds suspicious. After he leaves, the owner forgets about him for the meantime and turns back to his TV. 

At the Pittstown Convention Center, Secret Service Special Agent Art Tomson watches the entrance. He is protecting former governor Paul Ebbett, who is likely to become his party’s nominee. So far, his team has had to protect Ebbett from three assassination attempts due to the candidate’s incendiary remarks. Before the event, he talked with the local police force about what they would do in the case of an assassination attempt. Kim Morton, a local officer, tells Tomson to watch out for cleaning supply cartons that an assassin could hide in. 

Ebbett arrives with his entourage and waves at his supporters. Morton spots a man in a tan raincoat at a nearby Subway station who looks suspicious and the agents usher Ebbett inside where he goes to a private suite to drink tea. 

Ten miles away at Anderson’s Hardware, the boy behind the counter is lost in a daydream about a cheerleader when a man comes in and asks where he can find PVC pipe. The man buys the pipe along with a toolbox. 

Back at the Convention Center, Tomson waits with Ebbett in the penthouse suite as the other officers clear the area. While they wait, Tomson and Morton get to know one another and talk about their families. They are interrupted by a secret service agent who tells them there’s a perceived threat from the man in the gun shop and hardware store. They inform the candidate who decides to move the speech inside. After receiving more intelligence on the threat, the officers advise the candidate to cancel the event but he refuses.

The secret service realizes that the man also shoplifted rat poison and warns the candidate not to eat or drink anything for the meantime. Ebbett asks to speak to Morton alone and after 10:20 when Ebbett concludes his speech Morton tells Tomson that the candidate promised to get her into a top police academy to thank her for making good calls to protect him. 

On May 24, Bil Sheering sits in the bar at Earl’s and watches “Starlight,” an exotic dancer, as she takes the stage. On TV, Ebbett announces that he’s stepping down from his campaign to run for supervisor of Calloway County and endorses another candidate. Starlight pulls on clothing and addresses Bil, revealing herself to be Kim Morton. Morton congratulates Bil on their shared victory.

Bil, who ran a political consulting company, had been hired by committee chairman Victor Brown to get Ebbett out of the race. He found Morton and paid her to take up a job as a security guard. Bil shaved his head and grew out a mustache and made intentionally suspicious purchases the day of the speech. Morton seduced Ebbett who told her he would get her into the police academy if she slept with him. She recorded a sex tape and delivered the video to Bil and the committee gave Ebbett the choice to either withdraw or have the tape released to the media outlets. Bil pays Morton $150,000 and tells her he looks forward to working together again.