- When Julie Carter, the singer in Tony Blake's Vegas magic act and personal friend, is kidnapped in her dressing room, the magician has to race against time to save her.
- Tony is sharing a bill with his friend, singer Julie Carter, for a run at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Julie is recovering from physical and emotional trauma from being in a fire two years ago, which almost killed her. As such, this performance is considered the beginning of her comeback, its success or failure which could determine if she makes it in the business. After the successful first show, Julie goes missing. A note found in her dressing room addressed to Julie's manager and boyfriend Ray Weaver indicates that she was abducted. The kidnappers eventually telephone with a $500,000 ransom request, implying they will kill her if the ransom is not paid or if the police are called. Based on general history of kidnapping cases, Tony and Max do call in the Las Vegas police, Lt. Phil Corcoran, and plan not to pay the ransom - which they plan not to tell Ray, who only wants to do what he thinks will bring Julie back, which to him means paying - but enact a plot to pretend paying to flush out the kidnappers, with Tony being the one to drop off the supposed moneys. In trying to find a still safe and alive Julie, Tony has two puzzles to solve: (1) decipher what he believes was a coded message from Julie as to who is behind the plot, and (2) discover who is the mole among their team as the kidnappers seem to know a little too much about what's going on.—Huggo
- Tony gives an old friend a chance to premiere her singing act along with his show in Vegas, but kidnappers abduct her and Tony tries to bring her back unharmed despite the fact it was an inside job and someone is leaking information about his efforts to the kidnappers.—Gislef
- Tony is performing in Las Vegas at Circus Maximus, and then introduces his old friend and singer, Julie Carter.
Three criminals---Anna, Jim Russell, and Ed Tarlow--drive to the hotel where Tony and Julie are performing.
Tony watches offstage with Max and Julie's agent, Ray Weaver. Once Julie finishes, she thanks Tony as the "greatest guy in the world" and says that she was supposed to be on the stage two years ago with Tony. However, there was a fire and Tony convinced her to pull through with faith, hope, and love. Julie calls Tony out and everyone applauds. Tony performs another illusion while Max and Ray congratulate Julie. Ray tells Julie that he loves her.
Julie goes to her dressing room and finds Anna and her fellow criminals there. They tie and gag Julie, load her in a trunk, and take her out unnoticed. After his show, Tony goes to Julie's dressing room and discovers that she's gone, and a mannequin looking like Julie has been left in her place. There's also a note to Ray, saying not to call the police and to stay by the phone. The face of the mannequin is cut with a knife.
The kidnappers take Julie to a garage and remove her from the trunk. They take her to a phone and Anna calls Ray, who is waiting by the phone with Tony and Max. Anna demands $500,000 and gives him the address of a phone booth to drop the money off. Tony motions to Ray to have him ask the kidnappers let Julie speak so they can confirm she's alive, and the kidnappers oblige. Julie says "chin up", apparently as encouragement, and Anna hangs up the phone. As Jim and Anna put Julie into a mobile home they have ready, Ed warns Jim that Julie recognized him. Jim dismisses his concerns, saying that they'll kill Julie regardless.
Ray, Tony, and Max listen to a recording they made of the call and Tony figures that "chin up" is a message Julie tried to send them. Ray refuses to call in the police and endanger Julie, and Tony and Max both point out that kidnappers rarely return their victim once they get their ransom. Tony points out that the kidnappers knew Julie's backstage routine, meaning it was an inside job. Ray doesn't want to hear anymore and says that he'll take the responsibility because the note was addressed to him. Tony asks to take the money, warning that Ray is emotionally involved and Ray agrees. Once Ray leave, Tony gets the name of a local policeman, Phil Corcoran, that Max knows.
The three kidnappers drive the mobile home to an ice warehouse and take Julie to an office. Anna tells Julie that she's because she was badly burned but received skin grafts, and threatens her with a lit cigarette lighter.
Tony drives to his jet and calls Dennis to have him check to see if the words "chin up" mean anything significant in Julie's files
Anna tells Julie that they don't want to hurt her... yet. Jim tells Julie that Anna doesn't like beautiful women and she's a textbook sadist. Anna sarcastically asks Jim why he's a hit man and not a great doctor, and Jim just as sarcastically says that he couldn't afford the tuition. He figures that Julie is afraid and tells her that she should be.
Tony has Jerry get hold of a helicopter.
Corcoran meets with Max and asks why Tony wants to be involved. Max explains that Tony gets involved with people he cares about, and he's no amateur. Tony and Jerry arrive and Corcoran admits that paying the ransom is a bad bet, and that's why he'll go along with Tony. He has Sgt. Drake go with Jerry in the helicopter as police liaison, and they agree not to involve Ray because of his emotional involvement.
The next day, Drake goes to the airport and gets in the helicopter with Jerry. Ray brings the $500,000 to Tony, and Max arrives after making sure that a story didn't go out on Julie's kidnapping. Tony leaves with the payoff, with Jerry following him as Tony drives to the phone booth. Dennis calls Tony on the latter's car phone and tells him that "Chin Up" is a song that Julie sang on a local TV station a year before Tony met her. She did it as a duet with another singer, Jane Roberts, and they were an act for a while. Dennis hasn't been able to trace Jane so far.
Tony stops at the phone booth and the phone rings. It's Anna, and Tony identifies himself and says that Ray would have been too nervous and frightened to deliver the ransom. Anna tells Tony to park outside of a downtown casino and wait, and Tony goes to the casino. Jim gets out of a pickup truck and approaches Tony after he parks, gets Tony into the truck where Ed is waiting. The hit man takes the satchel with the ransom money, and Tony tells him that it's empty. He wants to confirm that Julie is alive before he pays the ransom, and Jim agrees but warns that they'll play by their rules.
Drake in the helicopter spots the switch and follows the truck. Ed drives into a parking structure. They two kidnappers check Tony for transmitters and tie his hands. Tony secretly puts a magnetic coin on the trunk of the car, and then Ed drives away. The fake coin deploys a small red chute, but another car hits them in the back as they stop to pay the parking fee. The impact knocks the coin loose and Drake doesn't spot the car switch.
Ed drives to the warehouse and Tony confirms that the chute is no longer on the back of the car. The two kidnappers take Tony inside and tell Anna that Tony want to see Julie. Tony confirms that Julie is unharmed, and the office phone rings. Jim answers it and says that Ray didn't show, and Tony came instead. After the caller gives Jim new instructions, Jim has Anna take Julie out. Jim tells Tony that his employer was on the phone, and they have to kill Tony now that they've lost the helicopter.
Jim gives Ed a gun, and Ed leads Tony out. In the warehouse proper, Tony throws the rope in Ed's face and trips him, but Jim comes out and shoots Tony. The bullet grazes Tony's fore head, knocking him out and down an ice ramp. The kidnappers take Julie out to their mobile home and leave, while Tony wakes up and goes outside, but there's no sign of Julie or her kidnappers.
Once Tony calls in and Ray learns about how the group went behind his back, he rages at Max. Corcoran figures that the kidnapper will call again, and says that they have to wait as Ray calms down.
Tony takes a cab back to his car and finds a parking ticket on the windshield. Dennis calls and warns that Tony can't trust the police because there's an information leak, and he traced Jane to the belly dancing school she runs in Las Vegas. Tony goes to the school and Jane recognizes him as the magician working with her friend Julie. Jane has her students take a break and Tony tells her that Julie was kidnapped. He confirms where Julie and Jane has a drink together earlier that week, and Julie finally says that a friend of hers picked her up: Ed. She says that Ed works as a cab driver at Circus Circus and Tony thanks her for the information.
When Tony goes to Circus Circus, he spots Ed standing outside his cab. Ed sees Tony coming and runs inside, and Tony chases him. They run up into the catwalks and when Ed takes a swing at Tony, he misses and goes over the edge. Tony grabs him by the ankles and threatens to drop him unless he says where Julie is. Ed finally says that Julie is in the mobile home at Hoover Dam.
Tony drives to Hoover Dam.
The kidnappers call Ray and have him promise that he'll deliver the ransom himself. The caller doesn't stay on the call long enough for a trace, and Ray says that the kidnappers want someone other than Ray to make the ransom drop. Max agrees to do it.
Max goes to a warehouse address the kidnappers provide, and a phone rings. When he answers it, they direct him to a luggage tag hidden behind the wall phone. Following instructions, Max puts the luggage tag on the case holding the ransom money and drives to the airport. He gives it to a luggage handler, who puts it on a cart holding suitcases. The handler drives the car to a waiting plane, and Ray posing as a luggage handler takes the case and walks away.
At the dam, Anna and Jim wait in the mobile home and guard Julie.
Tony arrives at the dam and spots the mobile home.
Ray calls Jim and tells him that he has the ransom money. Anna prepares to shoot Julie dead, and Tony knocks at the door. He calls through the door that he's with security and they're parked in violation. He asks Jim to come to the rear of the mobile home, and Jim goes out and does so. Tony ties him up, but Jim yells for Anna. When she comes out, she starts to untie Jim. Tony circles around, enters the mobile home, locks the door behind him, unties Julie, and drives off. Two tourists drive up, and Anna and Jim steal their car and drive after the mobile home.
Tony drives off with the kidnappers in pursuit, and Tony calls the police. A bus comes from the opposite direction, temporarily forcing the kidnappers off the road when they swerve to avoid it. The engine stalls and the police arrive.
Later, Ray is playing solitaire at the office when Tony comes in. Julie is singing on the stage and Ray hears her. Ray goes to the backstage area, and Corcoran arrests him conspiracy to kidnap. Max tells Jerry that the money was Julie's settlement from the accident, and Ray needed the money because his business had gone bankrupt. Once she finishes, Julie blows a kiss to Tony.
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