Jason Mercer is hit by a severe spell of vertigo, nausea, and loss of coordination after the shock of seeing Joe Hunter in the building where he lives. The episode revives the reality of Mercer's old brain injuries from being shot twice in the head by Jared Rington, and the narration explains how years of recovery left Mercer functional but still vulnerable to sudden stress. Because Mercer knows Hunter believed him dead, Mercer's first hope is that Hunter did not recognize him.

That hope collapses after Suzanne Bouchard calls and reports that Hunter and Rink were waiting near her house in Panama City. Sue says she confronted them and fired a warning shot instead of killing them, which Mercer sees as a reckless mistake, though he also admits that murdering them would not solve their larger problem. Both fugitives agree to run separately, and Mercer returns to his apartment to collect the escape bag, weapons, and supplies he had already hidden in preparation for exactly this kind of discovery.

Still shaken, Mercer forces himself to think through his exit. He considers whether anything in the apartment could reveal his plans, rejects starting a fire because it would attract attention, and becomes increasingly frightened that Sue may already be dead or captured. Mercer leaves for his black Toyota Camry, choosing it over Sue's more noticeable Mercedes, and drives off while mentally reviewing the fallback plan he and Sue had arranged: meet in Pensacola, then move on to Mobile if necessary, likely changing cars and then taking a flight out.

As Mercer drives, Sue's number appears on his phone. He hesitates, suspicious that she may be calling under duress, ignores the first call, then answers the second without speaking. When Sue says she is with Joe and Rink and urgently wants him to listen, Mercer immediately decides she is compromised, cuts her off, ends the call, and drops the phone into the street through the car window before accelerating toward the highway. The chapter ends with Mercer fleeing alone and severing direct contact with Sue.