At the safe house on Fanning Bayou, Vince reflects on earlier Arrowsake hunts, especially his unfinished vendetta against the killer called the Harvestman. He then turns to the current job and admits that finding Jason Mercer is not personal in itself, but Joe Hunter’s involvement makes it so. Vince resents Hunter’s moral code and Walter Conrad’s long-standing favoritism toward him, and he privately treats the mission as a chance to prove himself superior.

Vince reviews how the operation went wrong and how Arrowsake is covering it up. A local watcher at Sue’s house acted rashly, the hotel assault in Mexico Beach failed when Hunter spotted the team, and three of Vince’s people died during the pursuit and abduction. Even so, Vince’s team escaped by boat with Sue, reached the estate, and prepared to stay hidden while extracting information about Mercer.

With Pam Patrick wounded and Gary McMahon resting, Vince relies on Johnny Scott and Wayne Davis to guard Sue. Convinced that Sue and Mercer had arranged a rendezvous before Hunter and Rink disrupted their plans, Vince interrogates her. Sue denies knowing where Mercer is, and Vince escalates from finger torture to repeated suffocation with a plastic sheet, believing fear and pain will force her to reveal Mercer’s location.

Sue continues to resist even after multiple rounds of torture. When Vince revives her, she turns the interrogation back on him, warning that Arrowsake will eventually discard him and his team just as it has discarded others. Her words briefly unsettle Scott and touch Vince’s own buried fears, but Vince suppresses that reaction and prepares to continue.

The interrogation is interrupted by a call from Walter Conrad. Walter says Hunter has Mercer and is willing to exchange him for Sue, then demands proof that Sue is alive. After Sue briefly speaks to Walter, Walter warns Vince that hurting her further will mean open conflict with Hunter; Vince, despite his bravado, accepts the trade in principle and says he needs time to think through the details.