Rink drives south to Port St. Joe after separating from Hunter, certain that Vince’s men stopped chasing him earlier. He heads to the marina because he had already signaled to Hunter that "Saint Joe" would be their rendezvous point if they got clear. Rink hides his Ford behind storm debris in an empty visitor lot, keeps the engine running, and prepares to wait with the stolen pistol close at hand.

Instead of staying passive, Rink reassembles his switched-off cell phone and calls Walter Hayes Conrad, deciding the risk of being tracked is worth it. Rink immediately accuses Walter of sending Vince’s team after them and threatens to kill Walter if Hunter or Sue are harmed. Walter denies ordering the attack, says he only told Arrowsake that Mercer had resurfaced, and insists he told his superiors to leave Hunter and Rink alone after ordering them to stand down.

During the argument, Rink realizes he has revealed Sue’s presence by mistake, and Walter’s confusion convinces him that Walter truly did not know about her. Rink then works through how Arrowsake likely found them: after Walter reported Hunter’s sighting of Mercer, Arrowsake probably analyzed Hunter’s phone records, noticed his contact with Velasquez, followed Val’s research into Suzanne Carter, identified Sue as Mercer’s link, and then tracked Hunter to his hotel in Mexico Beach. This deduction shifts Rink’s understanding of the attack from a direct betrayal by Walter to a wider Arrowsake operation.

Walter says Arrowsake has changed and that his own authority has sharply declined. He explains that he has been pushed out of the inner circle, remains tied to the organization because he knows too much to leave safely, and fears Vince as much as anyone because Vince is loyal to no one. Although Rink does not fully trust him, Rink accepts that Walter may no longer control events and presses him to do whatever he can to call Vince off.

Walter promises to try, though he warns that his influence may be too weak to matter. After the call ends, Rink considers whether to disable the phone again but leaves it intact while waiting for Hunter. As more time passes, Rink imagines increasingly bad possibilities for Hunter’s fate, decides waiting is no longer helping, and turns the Ford back toward Mexico Beach, choosing to reenter the danger zone.