Benny returns home to find that a tree has been blown over and destroyed his shed. There is a visible tension between Benny and his neighbor Ted; they glare at one another without speaking. The next day, Benny takes his dog Ritchie to Joy’s house to finish the recording, but finds only Mallory there. A window has been smashed and Joy isn’t answering her phone.

The novel includes excerpts from Joy’s memoir, which narrate Joy and Benny’s backstory.

Joy describes her narcolepsy. The condition began in high school; Joy drifted in and out of sleep constantly and often experienced sleep paralysis, in which dreams and reality blurred and she could not move. During one episode, she fell asleep on the floor at a concert, and Benny, worried about the safety of a stranger, approached and woke her up. They became best friends, and have been ever since. During another episode, she fell asleep behind the wheel of her friend’s car. The danger prompted her parents to seek treatment, including medication and a strict sleep regimen. Eventually, she convinced her parents to help her get an apartment, and found the new independence thrilling.

In the present, Benny and Mallory block up the broken window with some wood to protect the house. Neither Joy nor her husband Xander is there. Benny checks Joy’s computer but finds nothing, and there are no clues on social media. Mallory then sees the couple’s dog Potsie barking outside and alone. Benny admits that the night before, Joy told him she wanted to take a break from the podcast. They argued and Joy asked him to leave.

In her memoir, Joy details her early friendship with Benny. They opened each other up to the world. While Joy had a romantic interest in Benny, he demurred, as he was still recovering from his mother’s death as well as some criminal involvement with drug sales. He invited Joy to his family home for Christmas, where Benny’s father and sister thanked her for coming into his life. The friends built a life together in LA with shared hobbies. Then Benny’s dad died, changing his life completely.

In the present, Benny and Mallory are interviewed by a detective named Keller, who searches the home and asks about potential motives for something to harm Joy. Benny reveals that Joy has a stalker who posts photos of her online constantly, that the podcast recently came under fire for advertising a product that turned out to be dangerous, and that their potential deal with Apex Plus is worth $30 million.

In the memoir, Joy writes that Benny’s father died suddenly of a heart attack. While Benny moved back home to help his sister deal with the aftermath, Joy met Xander at a coffee shop. Xander made Joy feel interesting and she found him charming. When Benny came back, he was hurt that Joy was seeing someone, so she comforted him with a long hug. When Benny and Xander met, Benny immediately disliked Xander.

Back at Benny’s house, Benny reveals that he secretly took Joy’s computer. He searches it for clues and finds a password-protected file he cannot access. He looks for the unfinished podcast that Joy supposedly recorded without him, but can’t find it. Benny and Mallory decide that their best option is to ask their massive fan base for information about Joy. Benny calls his sister Sarah to tell her that Joy is missing, and gets a text from his ex-wife Luna, who has already heard that something is wrong.

The memoir describes Joy’s first year with Xander as wonderful, but filled with tension as her love for Xander and her attachment to Benny were pitted against each other. Xander fixed Benny up with Luna, who got the group into an exclusive magic club and there connected with Benny. Xander hoped that Luna would put an end to any lingering feelings between Benny and Joy. When Joy told Benny that Xander asked her to move in with him, Benny hesitated, but then said that he wanted her to be well taken care of.

A flood of messages and false leads comes in after the podcast airs. Benny realizes he’s made a mistake by claiming Joy is missing. He informs Keller, who is angry at the prospect of hundreds of calls to follow up on. Benny ignores Luna’s texts as long as possible, as they barely speak since the divorce, but she calls early in the morning and he eventually answers. Luna comes over with news; she tells the assembled group—Benny, Mallory, and Mallory’s partner Quinn—that Joy was planning to divorce Xander. Luna, a lawyer, was helping Joy with the divorce. Joy was planning to tell Benny about it before she even told Xander. Benny sees that this divorce complicates everything, including the Apex Plus deal, and Joy and Xander’s disappearance.