Joe checks into the Caspen Inn, the only motel in town, and wonders about the deputy’s mention of an “inheritance.” He also contemplates the potential that he may have yet another relative: an uncle named Charlie. Avoiding the necessity of returning a missed call from Lila, he ruminates on the past, recalling the time years earlier when he removed Jeremy from Kathy’s home after her boyfriend Larry had struck Jeremy. In the heat of the moment, Larry threatened violence, and Joe used his skills as a bouncer to injure Larry’s knee, clearing the path to the door and leaving with Jeremy.

When Joe returns Lila’s missed call, he gives her “the opportunity to offer up an explanation or maybe even an apology” (54) and is surprised when she instead criticizes his abrupt departure in the midst of their discussion. They argue again about the letter from Kathy. Lila accuses Joe of judging his mother by her addiction and her mental health crises, as these traits also describe Lila’s own past difficulties with alcohol and self-harm. Joe insists that Lila is different because she, unlike Kathy, chose to change. Lila then reveals that she has read Kathy’s letter and also telephoned Kathy after receiving it. Shocked by this admission, Joe abruptly hangs up on Lila.

Joe reflects on Lila’s decision to get in touch Kathy despite his rule against contacting his mother in any way. He then flashes back to the events following his decision to remove Jeremy from Kathy’s home. At that time, Kathy demanded money of Joe for having torn Larry’s ACL, claiming that Joe owed this money as reimbursement; she also implicitly threatened to bring in the police. Ignoring her threat, Joe refused to pay. When Kathy threatened to take Jeremy back through legal routes, Joe and Lila considered officially seeking guardianship of Jeremy. After Kathy was arrested for possessing methamphetamine and was sent to court-ordered treatment, she wrote to demand Jeremy’s return, admitting in writing that she wanted custody of Jeremy as a way to avoid going to prison. Her letter spurred Joe to file for guardianship. Kathy then absconded from treatment—an action that could legally be construed as an “escape,” given that she was in treatment in lieu of being in jail. When Kathy came to Joe and Lila’s apartment, Joe called the police, and Kathy was arrested yet again.

In the present, Joe laments his naivete in believing that pulling Jeremy out of Kathy’s apartment would have been the end of the guardianship dispute. He bitterly recalls, “In the end, I would be the one to deliver the blow that would destroy what little remained of our relationship” (61).

Joe walks to the Snipe’s Nest, the local bar in Buckley, to gather more information about the town and the case. The bartender, Vicky Pyke, is a woman about his age. She calls Toke an “asshole,” an opinion echoed enthusiastically by two older patrons at the bar, who then recount Toke cutting down one neighbor’s walnut trees and shooting another neighbor’s cat. Meanwhile, a man in khakis sits at the end of the bar and quietly listens in.

Joe eventually reveals his last name and his belief that he is Toke’s son. Vicky tells him that the sheriff suspects Moody Lynch, the boyfriend of Toke’s daughter Angel. She mentions that there is bad blood between Moody and the deputies, then reveals that Toke was killed in the barn of the Hix farm, which is right across the road from her home. She says that Angel was carried out on a gurney after an apparent suicide attempt. When Joe asks, she gives him directions to the library. As Joe leaves, the man in khakis stands and follows him out the door.

Outside the bar, the man in khakis confronts Joe and identifies himself as Charlie Talbert, Toke’s brother. Charlie insists that Joe is not Toke’s son and dismisses any “claim” that Joe may have, without specifying further. When Joe mentions that his mother is Kathy Nelson, Charlie recognizes the name and disparages her reputation, suggesting that Joe’s paternity is very uncertain. Charlie warns Joe off, claiming that he is in town to handle Toke’s family matters and that Joe has no place in Buckley. As Charlie’s behavior grows physically threatening, Deputy Jeb Lewis happens by and pointedly interrupts the confrontation. Charlie immediately adopts a friendly demeanor, shakes hands with Jeb and Joe, and retreats into the bar. Jeb tells Joe that they need to talk.

Jeb explains that Charlie and Toke had been estranged since childhood and that Charlie has recently filed a petition for guardianship of Angel. Jeb also reveals that Toke’s late wife, Jeannie, inherited a substantial estate from her father Arvin Hix, who could not bring himself to deny Jeannie her inheritance despite his vocal hatred of Toke and his attempts to break up her marriage. Six months ago, Jeannie died by suicide, and like Arvin, she also failed to leave a will; all of her estate went to Toke. Jeannie had hanged herself in the horse barn, where Angel found her body. Now, with Toke dead, the 14-year-old Angel will inherit the vast Hix estate, but she is in a coma in Mankato after ingesting dangerous amounts of her mother’s clonazepam. Jeb suspects that Charlie is positioning himself to control the estate through guardianship of Angel. Jeb’s descriptions of events lead Joe to suspect that Jeb is emotionally invested in Jeannie and Angel. When Joe asks if he can visit Angel, Jeb invites Joe to ride with him to the hospital the next day. Joe also learns that a local attorney named Bob Mullen is handling the Hix estate; Jeb recommends that Joe pay Bob a visit.

At the small Buckley library, Joe researches Charlie online, finding a wealth of self-promotional material that leaves him skeptical. Digging deeper, he finds a story about a warehouse fire that occurred three years earlier in St. Paul and killed Charlie’s business partner Casey Levin; Charlie collected a million-dollar insurance payout from the incident. Joe also researches clonazepam, learning that it is used as a date-rape drug because it causes amnesia. Joe recalls the details of the sexual assault that Lila survived in high school and wonders if she had been dosed with the same drug.

Returning to the Snipe’s Nest for dinner, Joe finds that Charlie is there as well; the man gives him a cold look. Joe soon overhears a local social services worker discussing Charlie’s expedited guardianship petition; she is of the opinion that this development will be good for Angel’s welfare. Vicky offers Joe a drink, casually referring to him as “Little Toke.” Joe admonishes her and insists on being called Joe. However, a drunken patron named Harley Redding has overheard the exchange; he confronts Joe, claiming that because Toke owed him $15,000, Joe now owes him the same. Harley demands payment from Joe’s expected inheritance of the Hix estate. An altercation ensues, and when Harley attacks, Joe manhandles Harley to the ground, using a wrist lock that he learned when he was a bouncer. At Joe’s insistence, Harley and his companions leave. Joe catches a glimpse of Charlie, who is smiling “like he’d just bested [Joe] somehow” (88). Vicky offers to drive Joe to the Hix farm after her shift.

Vicky picks Joe up on her Triumph motorcycle and takes him to her farm, which his located across the road from the Hix property. Her inebriated father, Ray, emerges, and when he learns that Joe is Toke’s son, he orders Joe off his land. As Joe and Vickey cross the road and head to the Hix farm, Charlie drives past in a red Lexus, glaring. Vicky recalls seeing Charlie arguing with Toke at the bar weeks earlier, mentioning something about an obligation.

At the Hix farm, Vicky shows Joe the property, which includes roughly 750 acres of leased farmland, the silo, and the horse barn where both Jeannie and Toke died. She describes her own involvement in that moment; she was the one to find Jeannie hanging from a rope and Angel screaming hysterically. Now, she points to the bloodstain in the barn, where Toke was found beaten. Joe touches the stain contemplatively, realizing that this is the closest contact he will ever have with his father. Vicky describes Angel as “fragile,” saying that she was isolated by Toke’s control. She then asserts that Toke is responsible for her mother’s death and her father’s current struggles. She offers to show Joe something else.

Vicky takes Joe to a nearby bridge over the river, pointing out a damaged section of concrete wall as the site where her mother died. She recounts that 10 years earlier, when she was 14, Toke came to the Hix farm in a red Ford truck and confronted Arvin Hix over Hix’s plan to disinherit Jeannie. He then drove off in a rage. Later that night, Vicky was sneaking out to meet a boyfriend when she discovered her mother’s car submerged in the river. She pulled her mother out and tried to revive her without success. Red paint was found on the car, but Toke reported his truck stolen that night, and because the vehicle was never recovered, there was no way to prove that he was at fault for the death of Vicky’s mother. In the aftermath of this loss, her father deteriorated, developing an addiction to alcohol. Hearing this account, Joe openly questions Vicky’s belief that she owes it to her father to give up her dreams of college and take care of him; she does not respond. Riding back to town, they pass Harley, who is standing outside the bar.