Across the Vanishing Sky

Ten days after Vincent’s arrest, Braedyn finds comfort in her supportive community but remains unsettled. Law enforcement now believes that Vincent is responsible for Nova’s disappearance, citing as evidence the array of files and photos that he kept on his secondary laptop, featuring both women. Even so, Braedyn feels that an important piece of the puzzle is missing. Seeking clarity, she drives back to Three Creeks Canyon trailhead, arranging for Dex and their friend Aster to meet her there. While she waits for them to arrive, she texts Dex, who is running late after taking Yeti to the groomer. Aster arrives, and Braedyn gets out of her SUV to greet her.

As Braedyn and Aster meet in the parking lot, a man ambushes Aster from behind, knocking her unconscious with the butt of a gun. Braedyn is horrified to see that the attacker is Sheriff Miller, who now aims the gun at her. Miller forces Braedyn onto the trail, confessing that he is being paid to keep law enforcement away from an illegal marijuana operation in the forest. He claims not to know what happened to Nova but suggests that the drug operators killed her. When they reach the spot where Nova vanished, Miller announces his plan to murder Braedyn and stage her death as a suicide or an accident. Just as he raises his weapon, a shot rings out. It was fired by Travis, who then steps over Miller’s body and shoots Braedyn with a Taser, knocking her unconscious.

Dex arrives at the trailhead and finds Braedyn and Aster’s vehicles but sees no sign of the two women. Behind Braedyn’s SUV, he discovers Aster, who is unconscious but alive. Kol and Maverick arrive moments later. Maverick stays behind to tend to Aster while Dex and Kol pursue Braedyn on foot. Dex presents Yeti with a sweatshirt from Braedyn’s pack and has the dog track her. The trail leads them past Sheriff Miller’s dead body and to a set of fresh ATV tracks. Just then, Orion texts them new coordinates, reporting that he can see Braedyn through binoculars; she is located at a remote cabin with a male suspect and appears to be unconscious. Now armed, Dex and Kol immediately head toward the location on foot.

Braedyn regains consciousness to find herself bound on the back of an ATV driven by Deputy Travis Moore. Travis confesses that he is the one who kidnapped Nova. He reveals his plan to kill Braedyn and frame the local marijuana operation for both her disappearance and Sheriff Miller’s death. He takes her to a shed on his property; it conceals a locked, underground room. Travis explains that he is a serial killer who was inspired by the crimes of Edmond Archer, Dex’s father. Travis derives a psychological thrill from working the missing-persons cases of his own victims. He cruelly informs Braedyn that he kept Nova alive in the hidden room for over a year, using software to call Braedyn from Nova’s phone and forcing Nova to record audio that he later used to fake her presence on the trail. He also reveals that Maya, the daughter of a Compass member, was a prior victim of his who died in captivity. Seizing a sudden opportunity, Braedyn attacks Travis and escapes into the woods, but he catches her at the edge of the river and threatens to kill her.

Led by Yeti, Dex and Kol find Travis holding Braedyn at gunpoint by the river. Travis taunts Dex, revealing that he was inspired by Dex’s hacking skills and used them to spy on his victims’ families. He boasts about taking Nova and burying her. Travis uses Brae, whose hands are still bound, as a human shield; Kol cannot get a clear shot because Braedyn fully blocks his line of sight. As Travis continues his taunts, Braedyn locks eyes with Dex and mouths the words, “I trust you.” Understanding her message, Dex raises his weapon and fires.

Following Dex’s shot, a second shot is fired, though Braedyn cannot tell from whom. Travis, with blood blooming on his shoulder and chest, stumbles backward and falls into the river, where the rapids quickly sweep his body out of sight. Dex rushes to Brae, who immediately tells him she loves and trusts him. 

At the hospital, a doctor diagnoses Braedyn with two hairline rib fractures. Kol arrives and reports that search-and-rescue teams have not yet recovered Travis’s body. He then shows Braedyn a dirt-caked bracelet matching the one on Braedyn’s own wrist; it was found with one of several bodies on Travis’s property. Braedyn recognizes the bracelet as Nova’s, seeing it as proof that her friend truly is dead.

Three days later, the Archer brothers visit Braedyn at her cabin, bringing food and gifts. The state police have now discovered six bodies on Travis’s property, identifying two as Cynthia and Maya, the loved ones of members of Braedyn’s support group, Compass. 

Waylon presents Braedyn with a custom-made Bigfoot cuckoo clock, to her delight. Dex tells Braedyn that he is adding rooms to the house he is building at the ranch, and he asks that she and Owen move in with him. As they talk, Dex’s phone rings. It is Kol, who stuns everyone with the news that he has found Nova alive.

Three months later, friends and family gather at Twisted Oak Ranch for Dex’s birthday. Nova is there, physically recovering but emotionally withdrawn after her year-long ordeal. (Kol found her barely alive, more than five miles from Travis’s cabin.) 

During the party, Dex admits to Braedyn that he hacked Vincent’s accounts and donated the funds to a nonprofit for single parents, to several educational scholarships for kids from single-parent homes, and to at least a dozen women’s shelters. As a gift, Owen gives Dex a pair of Converse sneakers that he decorated. Touched, Dex proposes marriage to Brae, who accepts. Owen then asks if Dex will finally be his dad, and Dex responds that the question is an even better gift than the custom Converse. Across the yard, Nova watches her friends and smiles.