Cole and the team come upon his former mentor, TRAVIS PARKER, an old CIA friend of Cole's, now a homeless man hunted by the CIA. The VIPER Team discover a scheme by WARREN KELTNER, CIA section chief, to cover-up the murder of innocent civilians during an experiment gone wrong and to keep Travis from revealing the dirty secret.

CIA Deputy Director Warren Keltner informs Cole that Parker sold secrets to enemy sources, then had a nervous breakdown and went underground. As he reveals that his men have gone to Cole's apartment to apprehend the traitor, Keltner learns that someone tried to kill Parker before his team got there, and that he has disappeared. Cole searches for his friend to no avail, but when he returns to his darkened apartment, Parker emerges from the shadows with a gun.

Parker insists that the people sent to take him into custody are assassins. Just then they return, forcing Cole and Parker to take cover. Cole is completely taken by surprise, and the suspicious Parker realizes that his old friend is not part of the plot. After the danger passes, Cole takes Parker back to his auto graveyard "home," which he has booby-trapped and fitted with surveillance equipment. Parker reveals that he faked his own death after he discovered a clique of rogue CIA agents. Cole disguises the Viper as an old sedan, and Parker directs him to a fast-food restaurant, explaining that he tossed a microfilm container with the evidence into the still-wet foundation when he was ambushed. Then, Parker is shot -- the assassins have found them again.

Cole radios Frankie, who uses the holographic projector to trick the assassins into chasing the image of the sedan while Cole escapes in the Defender. Parker returns to the auto yard, while Cole and Frankie recover the evidence that clears Parker and implicates several of Keltner's operatives.

When Keltner sees the information, he makes arrangements to escort Parker to Washington, D.C. Frankie and Westlake notice the Defender's communications systems are jammed, and they realize Keltner is behind it. Meanwhile Keltner arrives, and Cole immediately senses he and Parker are in a trap. A shoot-out ensues, and Cole uses the car to launch a missile at a junker car. The automobile explodes, blowing the assassins off their feet, and an honest CIA official arrives to take Parker to testify and to gain his life back.
 

Copyright © 1997, 1998 Paramount Pictures.