The chap­ter opens with Lucas Dav­en­port injured after a vio­lent con­fronta­tion with Han­son, a sus­pect in mul­ti­ple child mur­ders. Del, his col­league, assess­es Lucas’s wounds—a deep cut on his fore­head and a slashed shoulder—before they are treat­ed by para­medics. Lucas is tak­en to the hos­pi­tal, where a plas­tic sur­geon stitch­es him up. Dur­ing the pro­ce­dure, Lucas calls his wife, Weath­er, who is alarmed but reas­sured by the sur­geon. Mean­while, Jenk­ins, anoth­er offi­cer, con­firms Han­son was killed dur­ing the alter­ca­tion, and evi­dence at his home—including tro­phies and VHS tapes—links him to the mur­ders of the Jones sis­ters and oth­er vic­tims.

At the hos­pi­tal, Lucas recov­ers from the anes­the­sia while Del updates him on the after­math. Han­son was shot dead by Jenk­ins dur­ing the strug­gle, and the woman he held hostage, Bet­ty Lud­wig, escaped with minor injuries. The inves­ti­ga­tion reveals dis­turb­ing evi­dence in Hanson’s home, such as locks of hair and per­son­al items from vic­tims. Lucas express­es relief that he won’t have to view the incrim­i­nat­ing tapes. The sheriff’s depart­ment is briefed, though ten­sions arise over the lack of pri­or coor­di­na­tion. Lucas defends his impul­sive actions, explain­ing he act­ed to pro­tect Lud­wig, despite the risks.

After being dis­charged, Lucas returns home, where Weath­er scolds him for his reck­less­ness. His injuries make rest­ing uncom­fort­able, but col­leagues Jenk­ins and Shrake vis­it to con­firm the shoot­ing was jus­ti­fied. Pub­lic Safe­ty Com­mis­sion­er Rose Marie Roux holds a press con­fer­ence, declar­ing Han­son respon­si­ble for at least six child mur­ders, includ­ing his uncle and Mar­cy Sher­rill. The case will require exten­sive inves­ti­ga­tion to iden­ti­fy all vic­tims. Rose Marie and Weath­er lat­er admon­ish Lucas for his behav­ior, urg­ing him to appre­ci­ate his team’s loy­al­ty.

The chap­ter con­cludes with reflec­tions on the after­math. Funer­als are held for Sher­rill, Han­son, and the Jones sis­ters, while Todd Bark­er, anoth­er vic­tim, sur­vives a lung infec­tion. Hanson’s rel­a­tives attempt to sue the state for prop­er­ty dam­age but set­tle qui­et­ly to avoid pub­lic scruti­ny. The BCA’s DNA advance­ments are high­light­ed, show­cas­ing their role in solv­ing the case. Lucas, most­ly healed after two weeks, con­tem­plates the events alone, leav­ing the read­er with a sense of clo­sure but lin­ger­ing ques­tions about jus­tice and the toll of his work.