C.A.T. Squad 1986

After a string of brutal murders targeting scientists on a NATO project, a high-stakes, inter-governmental task force steps in: the Counter Assault Tactical Squad, or CAT Squad, is assigned to shield the remaining researchers and root out the unseen threat behind the attacks. The mission hinges on precision, discipline, and the ability to read shifting clues under pressure.

The CAT Squad is built around a core team: Joseph Cortese as the steady leader, Richard “Doc” Burkholder, with Steve James portraying his capable deputy Bud Raines, Jack Youngblood as explosive expert John “Roadmaster” Sommers, Patricia Charbonneau playing forensics ace Nikki Blake, and Bradley Whitford as the newest recruit Leon Trepper, a sharp-eyed language specialist. The composition is rounded out by a family connection—Bud Raines’ wife, Mrs. Raines, played by Anna Maria Horsford—and the stoic presence of The Director, portrayed by Barry Corbin. Together, they move with careful purpose through a web of lies, loyalties, and escalating danger.

When a scientist is killed by a rocket, the team learns that the rocket launcher was stolen from a military base in Nuremberg. An interrogation leads to a suspect who claims he stole the weapon for a supposed Nicaraguan freedom fighter, and the trail points to a girlfriend in Paris. An agent finds materials for counterfeiting passports and the suspect’s photo in the apartment, but the informant is ambushed by a hitman just as he reports back to the CAT Squad. The investigators uncover a burnt postcard fragment and Nikki Blake deciphers an invisible ink message that points to Spivek, the head of the project, as the next high-value target. Protective custody is arranged for Spivek, but danger shifts rapidly when an unauthorized gas truck barrels past the house, triggering a gas leak. A canine search helps avert disaster, and the family is hustled outside before the home explodes. In the aftermath, Trepper is demoted from house watch to limousine duty for failing to report the gas truck in time.

The hitman then makes a bold move, killing the motorcycle escort and using a bomb on the car. Trepper, behind the wheel, senses something amiss and orders Roadmaster to evacuate the passenger. The passengers escape, but Trepper’s door seals shut, trapping him as the decoy vehicle detonates. The shocking reveal comes a moment later: Spivek survives in another car with Doc, Bud, and Nikki, while Trepper’s sacrifice underscores the stakes of their mission.

Piecing clues together, the CAT Squad tracks the mastermind to Sir Cyril Sharpe, the curator of the British Museum of World Art, and they work to identify the mysterious man seen alongside him in photographs. Doc recognizes a distinctive hand scar on the other man and confirms him as Jorge Vialobos—also known as “Carlos”—a terrorist-for-hire long believed dead. The operation then connects Carlos to Dieter Porzig, a German bush pilot based near the Angolan border and frequently operating along the Mexican frontier. To draw out the operatives, the team sends a postcard crafted in the same style as the earlier burnt one, luring Porzig and his associates into the open. The pursuit leads to a tense sequence outside a private airfield, with the CAT Squad quickly converging on the vanishing group. Doc infiltrates the plane and executes a decisive confrontation, ending Jorge Vialobos’ threat in a final showdown.

As the dust settles, Doc files a concise report to The Director, reflecting on the mission’s outcomes and the network they disrupted. In a framing moment, the man known as Carlos is seen stepping off a bus in Mexico, leaving the door open for the next chapter in this ongoing global game of cat and mouse.