Hours after the gunfight at Sue Carter's house, Jason Mercer secretly watches the police and media swarm the crime scene. By blending in with neighbors and overhearing investigators, Mercer learns that Sue was seen leaving alive with two men in a dark car, while the dead man appears to have arrived separately in a van. From the witnesses' descriptions, Mercer identifies the abductors as Hunter and Rink and concludes that the dead man was probably an Arrowsake assassin sent to kill Sue.

Mercer is unsettled by what he has pieced together. If Hunter and Rink are still serving Arrowsake, Mercer cannot explain why they killed Sue's would-be murderer instead of helping him. He becomes so visibly shaken that a neighbor asks if he needs medical help, forcing Mercer to retreat to his car and steady himself.

Once alone, Mercer realizes his physical reaction is not a neurological episode but a surge of fear and emotion. He had been close to escaping safely through Alabama, yet he chose to return to Panama City because he believes Sue may still be alive and needs him. That decision forces Mercer to face both the danger of Arrowsake and his old terror of dying after years spent recovering from trauma, nightmares, and the attempt on his life.

Mercer reflects on why he cannot abandon Sue. After Jared Rington left him for dead in Sierra Leone, Mercer survived through the help of villagers and aid workers, eventually making his way back to the United States. Sue later found him, revealed that she too had gone underground after learning Arrowsake had ordered his execution, and brought him into her covert network helping people hide from the organization. Mercer credits Sue with giving him purpose and believes that without her he might have killed himself.

Although Mercer admits he loves Sue, he frames that love as protective and familial rather than romantic. He reasons that Hunter and Rink must be keeping Sue alive to use her against him, and he tries to predict where they would take her. Remembering Sue's earlier warning that they may have been spotted during a trip to storm-damaged Mexico Beach, Mercer decides that is the most likely place to search.

Mercer also rejects going to the police, believing they still misunderstand Sue's identity and would be unable to protect either of them from Arrowsake once the truth surfaces. He starts driving away from the scene, committed to rescuing her himself, but before he gets far, Sue's burner phone begins to ring in his pocket.