Fourteen

Pip’s mother confronts Pip about the missing-person posters and her renewed investigation. Pip admits she’s recording season two and explains the police refused to act, so she feels responsible to help Jamie. Leanne cites last year’s dangers, and Pip acknowledges her past mistakes but insists she can’t ignore this.

Victor mediates, emphasizing Pip’s considered decision and adulthood, and vows to protect her. Leanne relents with strict conditions: no obsession, no missing school, and immediate reporting of any danger. Pip warns she doubts Jamie will appear at work, hinting that all is not fine.

When Leanne suggests Jamie’s odd behavior isn’t unusual, Pip records a conversation. Pressed, Leanne reveals Jamie no longer works at Proctor and Radcliffe; he was dismissed about two and a half weeks earlier after she caught him taking the company credit card from her locked drawer using her key.

Leanne recounts Jamie’s panic and shifting excuses before apologizing and saying he needed the money for “life or death.” She chose not to call the police but terminated his contract. Jamie’s family doesn’t know, and he kept pretending to go to work. Pip concludes the incident suggests Jamie was desperate and possibly entangled in something dangerous, heightening concern about his disappearance.