May Beth Foster contacts journalist West McCray and begs him to help find missing teenager Sadie Hunter.

Sadie buys a car from a stranger on Craigslist, gives the name Lera, and drives away from Cold Creek.

Sadie shows a photo of Keith at Ray's Diner, claiming to be his daughter in order to get information.

Sadie holds her switchblade to Caddy Sinclair's throat until he gives her the name Marlee Singer.

Marlee Singer tells Sadie that the man she is hunting goes by the real name Jack Hersh.

Sadie infiltrates Kendall Baker's social circle at a bar to get access to Kendall's father Silas.

Sadie follows Silas Baker to an abandoned house and breaks open his hidden lockbox to reveal its contents.

Silas Baker catches Sadie trying to flee, grabs her throat, and smashes her face into her steering wheel.

Sadie picks up a hitchhiker named Cat, who later discovers Sadie's bloody shirt and switchblade and flees.

West tracks down Cat Mather, who gives him the address where Sadie was headed in Farfield.

Sadie breaks into Keith's motel room and finds multiple fake driver's licenses and clothing tags taken from abused girls.

Motel attendant Ellis bursts into Keith's room and Sadie holds her switchblade to his throat.

Sadie convinces Ellis that Keith is a predator, and Ellis reveals where Keith has been living in Farfield.

Keith surprises Sadie inside his house and strikes her over the head, leaving her unconscious on the ground.

West learns Keith died of an infected stab wound months earlier, and DNA evidence confirms he killed Mattie.

Sadie Hunter leaves Cold Creek after her younger sister Mattie is murdered, determined to track down and kill Keith, her mother's former boyfriend she holds responsible. As Sadie follows a chain of clues from a roadside diner to a small-time con man to Keith's longtime accomplice, journalist West McCray begins retracing her steps after surrogate grandmother May Beth begs him for help. Sadie eventually breaks into Keith's motel room and uncovers devastating proof of his crimes against young girls spanning many years. She persuades motel attendant Ellis to reveal Keith's location and drives to Farfield for the confrontation that defines her entire journey. Keith strikes Sadie over the head before she can kill him, leaving her fate unknown to the reader. Months later, West confirms that Keith died from an infected stab wound and that DNA evidence links him definitively to Mattie's murder.

Sadie's hunt for Keith and West's race to find her.

May Beth shows West the abandoned schoolhouse where thirteen-year-old Mattie Southern was found dead from blunt force trauma.

Sadie replaces the license plates on her newly purchased car before leaving her trailer park behind.

Sadie dyes her hair in a truck stop bathroom, thinking about how Mattie had fair hair just like their mother.

A woman at Ray's Diner counter tells Sadie to seek out a man named Caddy Sinclair for information about Keith.

Caddy Sinclair grabs Sadie and implies she will have to pay for information about Darren Marshall with sex.

West interviews Sadie's former boss Marty McKinnon, who describes her constant fear of being separated from Mattie.

Sadie offers Marlee money to find out about Marlee's estranged brother Silas Baker.

Sadie meets Javi at a Montgomery bar and he invites her to the Baker house the following evening.

West reaches Caddy Sinclair, who says Sadie held a knife to his throat and is probably already dead.

Sadie enters the Baker family home and secretly searches Silas's bedroom while he is distracted downstairs.

West interviews Marlee Singer, who denies ever meeting Sadie and refuses to discuss her relationship with Darren.

West interviews Paul Good, one of Claire's former boyfriends, who says the family always felt doomed.

West asks to see Darren's permanent motel room at the Bluebird Motel; owner Joe Perkins hesitates but agrees.

Claire tells West she attempted suicide after learning Mattie was dead, then entered rehab and got clean.

Claire stays in Cold Creek after getting sober and suggests West name his podcast The Girls.

Sadie's journey moves through a series of small towns and encounters that together paint a full portrait of her world, her ingenuity, and the network of people connected to Keith. West's parallel investigation gives those same encounters a second layer, as he interviews Sadie's boss, the witnesses she met along her route, and the people who knew Keith under his many aliases. Key figures like Caddy, Javi, Marlee, and Paul Good each add another piece to the picture of Keith's crimes and Sadie's desperate resolve. Claire Southern, long framed as the story's villain, emerges as a far more complicated figure when West finally tracks her down. Together, Sadie's on-the-road encounters and West's follow-up interviews reveal the poverty, vulnerability, and quiet resilience of the people left in Keith's wake. The story closes with Claire remaining in Cold Creek and proposing the podcast title that honors not just Sadie and Mattie, but every girl Sadie fought to protect.

The people and places Sadie encounters along her road trip.

West is reluctant to investigate Sadie's disappearance until his boss Danny insists the story is worth covering.

Sadie announces her intention to kill the man responsible for Mattie's death, saying revenge is the only thing keeping her alive.

May Beth reveals that a postcard Mattie believed came from Claire is what persuaded her to get into a stranger's truck.

Marlee tells Sadie she kicked Darren out after finding a photograph among his belongings she could not explain or defend.

West discovers Sadie's abandoned car and belongings in Farfield but finds no trace of Sadie herself.

Sadie is overwhelmed by a traumatic memory of Keith entering her bathroom when she was eleven and refusing to leave.

Sadie grabs Silas Baker's phone from the kitchen counter, memorizes the address listed under the contact 'Jack H.,' and runs.

Sadie hears West McCray's podcast playing on the car radio and immediately shuts it off.

Sadie opens up to hitchhiker Cat about Mattie and reveals a cigarette burn scar on the back of her neck.

May Beth tells West that Cat Mather's credit card was found under the seat of Sadie's abandoned car.

Sadie finds a clothing tag with her own name written on it among Keith's collection of trophies from abused girls.

Javi calls 911 after Sadie shows him the evidence of child abuse she found in Silas Baker's hidden lockbox.

West realizes that Sadie, not Claire, sent the Los Angeles postcard that gave Mattie false hope and led to her death.

Claire breaks down telling West she kicked Keith out of the house after discovering him alone in Mattie's room.

West closes his final podcast episode by addressing Sadie directly and asking her to contact him if she is still alive.

The novel's most pivotal moments hinge on revelations that reframe everything the reader understands about Sadie's world and her motivation for revenge. From West's reluctant entry into the investigation to Sadie's raw confession that killing Keith is all she has left, each turning point deepens the tragedy at the story's core. Sadie's discovery of her own name on one of Keith's trophy tags confirms the full personal scope of his crimes against her, while Javi's decision to call 911 delivers justice for Silas's victims in a victory only possible because of Sadie. The story's most startling revelation comes when West realizes it was Sadie, not Claire, who sent the Los Angeles postcard that ultimately led Mattie to her death, unlocking the full weight of Sadie's guilt. Claire's admission that she kicked Keith out after finding him in Mattie's room proves he targeted her family more than once. The novel ends with West addressing Sadie directly in his final broadcast, leaving her fate and the question of justice deliberately unresolved.