Eighteen

At dawn, Cal and Lena wake after sheltering the battered Trey. Lena leaves for work, and Cal feeds Trey, who resists police or child services. Cal admits lying about Brendan and explains he was warned off. Trey declares she’ll stop once someone truly knows Brendan’s fate; Cal accepts that as a code.

Cal heads to Donie’s house, breaks in, and violently compels answers. Donie admits Brendan was set to cook meth for a Dublin crew, lost equipment (after P.J. Fallon and friends, including Mart, looted the stash), and a meeting was arranged at an old mountain house. Brendan never showed—he ran. Donie also reveals the Dublin crew had him terrorize local “aul’ fellas,” which were the sheep killings.

Cal copies numbers from Donie’s burner, including the regional boss Austin, and leaves. He concludes he must meet Austin face-to-face to stop the intimidation and possibly secure an answer for Trey.

Returning home, Cal finds Trey on edge; he shares what Donie said. Trey urges contacting the Dublin men but accepts Cal’s caution. She hid from Mart, who snooped around Cal’s place. Cal proposes Trey be seen at Noreen’s with her bruises to signal Sheila complied, reducing risk of another attack.

Trey asks to stay; Cal agrees and sheets over the bedroom window for safety. He recounts his own teenage beating to normalize her exhaustion. Trey collapses into sleep for hours while Cal quietly works and keeps watch; no one comes.