Hidden Nature

Sloan and Nash have dinner, and Sloan tells him she’s now found seven victims of the abductors. She suspects the killers believe they have a purpose. Nash is upset on Sloan’s behalf that she’s not entirely involved with the other investigators, but Sloan says she likes working on her own. She wants justice for the victims and answers for their families.

They hear the call of an owl and Sloan surmises that the killers are partners, working together and joined in their mission. She reflects, “[I]t’s not murder for them. They’re giving back what was taken, righting a moral wrong” (382).

They walk outside, and Nash talks about the summer that his family rented a cabin from the Coopers. He recalls seeing Sloan clearing up after a meal. They quarrel briefly when Nash insists that he didn’t come back looking for her, saying, “You weren’t part of the plan” (386). He admits he’s in love and doesn’t know what to do about it. Sloan feels the same way and suggests they can figure things out. They kiss and hear the owls calling.

Clara tries to tell herself she can accept being called “home,” but she’s afraid and feels she can’t share her fears with Sam. She wonders what she’ll see when she dies. She records a goodbye message for Sam, telling him he made her feel like a whole woman and asking him to continue the “mission.” Over dinner, Sam reports on a patient at his facility who was, he says, zapped back to life. Clara lays out their strategy and says they will take their victims close together, but they will burn Sloan’s blood because she’s a witch and part demon.

Elsie brings over chairs for Sloan’s porch. She’s glad Sloan has found a home that makes her happy. Elsie is glad, too, that Nash is in love with Sloan. She says, “You and Nash have your feet planted. You’re one-step-at-a-time people” (394), alike just as Theo and Drea are alike. Mother and daughter visit the nursery and Sloan talks with Hallie, a friend of hers who is engaged to Terry. Once again, Sloan sees a woman in a floppy hat watching her.

Drea and Theo show the family the house they are hoping to buy, and they celebrate that evening as the offer is accepted. Dean toasts to their new home, and they all toast to family.

Sloan returns home to find her father and Nash working on her patio. She helps them lay the flagstones. Sam and Clara watch from the woods and plot how to capture Sloan. Dean talks with Nash about his relationship with Sloan and advises him not to screw things up.

Terry Brown closes his kitchen and drives home looking forward to his marriage. He’s glad he survived the lightning strike and has a chance to live a full life. He sees a woman with a van on the side of the road who says she needs help. Terry stops, and Sam grabs him. Terry’s coworker, driving behind, sees Terry’s abandoned car.

Sloan dreams of the mini-mart. She wakes when Detective O’Hara calls. O’Hara reports that Terry was abducted and they discuss what might have happened. Sloan shows O’Hara her case board and suggests the killers’ base might be where the three affected states intersect. O’Hara reminds Sloan that she fits the victim profile and tells her to watch her back. Sloan mentions seeing the couple watching her and O’Hara asks if she would work with a police artist. Sloan agrees; she wants to see this case solved.

Sloan works with the police artist and they come up with a sketch of Clara. Clara and Sam are keeping Terry Brown sedated as their plan is to show Sloan what they do before they kill her. Clara thinks that Terry, too, should “see for himself the difference between good and godly and evil and dark” (418).

Sam looks forward to cutting Terry up. He also looks forward to using the gun Clara gave him. Clara drops Sam off in the woods. He waits while Elsie arranges patio furniture, then breaks into the house. He walks through the place and takes items he wants for himself. He’s spooked when he sees Sloan’s case board and hides at the top of the basement stairs.

Sloan orders pizza and invites Nash to her house. When she enters the house, she knows someone has been in it by the disarranged items. She sees a woman in a van drive up and recognizes Clara as the ER nurse at the hospital. Clara pretends she’s lost. Sloan turns just as Sam rushes her; she fires her gun. Clara attacks Sloan. Sloan fires again, then throws Clara off.

Nash rushes into the house. Sloan retrieves Sam’s gun and restrains Clara, who is howling over Sam’s body. Sloan can see he is dead. Sloan demands to know where they are keeping Terry Brown. Clara calls Sloan a witch and insists their mission is “holy.”

Travis arrives to help and reports that Terry has been recovered alive. Officers read Clara her rights and take her away. The response team praises Sloan for her toughness. Sloan takes a moment to settle down while Nash waits.

Sloan is upset that she killed a man. Nash reminds her she can lean on him, saying, “Even tough women know how to lean” (431). Sloan relates what happened and reports what the police found at Clara and Sam’s place. Sloan reminds herself that she did what she had to do and she’ll get through this incident.

Nash says he wants Sloan to move in with him and, in time, get married. Sloan tells him she’ll say yes. She thinks, “She’d been given a second chance at life. She’d been given love and a promise of a future. And she wouldn’t waste any of it” (435).