[preacher chatters on radio]
Lord Jesus Christ. The elements are gonna melt.
[announcer] Tonight on Channel 4, a true crime event series.
[reporter] The sand is literally on fire, is what I'm trying to say.
- Not just homes, not just trees or... - [siren wails]
- [reporter continues on radio] - Hey, kid. What happened to you?
I got hit.
It was an accident.
Was it?
We can help you.
...may have affected the weather...
I know a place up ahead. A motel.
Please. I need to clean up.
[reporter on radio] Crime is up. Murders are up. War is up.
[Sister Megan] What's your name?
It's Andrea.
[Lois] Get out of the way.
[preacher on radio] ...and the cop's not too happy...
[horn honks]
[♪ blues playing on radio]
This place looks like it was built
for some good old-fashioned fornicatin', don't it?
[siren wailing]
[Andrea] That's Nick's car parked over there.
- I know him. - [Lois] Nick?
[Andrea] He... He works here. He's okay.
[Lois] Andrea, listen.
Someone beat you, and beat you badly.
[Andrea] Really, I don't need anything.
Thank you.
You're kind.
You should stay here until the fires are out.
You'll be safe here.
[Sister Megan] Should she be alone?
- She's not a baby in a basket. - [engine stops]
You heard the girl. She doesn't want a sitter, so...
[Sister Megan] Dear Lord. What is happening?
I feel like everything is tilted,
like some kind of hallucinogen is in that smoke.
Well... [sighs] ...maybe there is some kind of hallucinogen in the smoke.
Look at the fuckin' pool.
[metal clanking in distance]
[children chattering]
[Sister Megan] Should we keep going?
[Lois] Where?
This is the safest place for us to be tonight.
Come on.
[Sister Megan] Okay.
Okay.
[clears throat] Okay.
- [receptionist] Hello, ladies. - [Lois] Hey.
[receptionist] Need a room? We have plenty.
Fire drove out all the tourists.
[Lois] I feel like this fire is never gonna go out.
They always go out.
Head on in. I'll be right there.
Come on.
[receptionist] This part of the world, we get it all.
Fires, floods, locusts.
All of it.
But a couple of times a year,
when the wildflowers bloom
and the birds migrate and the butterflies stop here,
it's heaven.
Though it can seem like hell.
Why is the pool that color?
[receptionist] Uh, it's the, uh... the ash from the fire.
It has copper in it,
and, uh, copper will turn pools purple if they have a lot of chlorine.
They interact, those chemicals.
- I mean, that's... that's what Nick says. - [door opens]
He's kind of our everything guy around here.
Anyways, don't go in it.
It's acidic.
The color reminds me of this cocktail I used to have
at this bar called The Five Spot.
- The, um-- - Aviation.
Yeah, doesn't it?
Gin, lemon juice, maraschino liqueur and crème de violette.
[Lois] I'll meet you at the room.
- Okay. - I was a... I was a barback in Amarillo.
[Lois] Mm-hmm.
I wanna talk to you for a second.
Listen, just a little tip.
Next time, put some lipstick on that before you put the concealer.
The red neutralizes the green.
What green?
Somebody did that to you?
A man? A boyfriend?
- Nick? - Nick? No, no.
He's... He's okay.
I mean, he's... he's Nick. But he's... he's not a bad guy.
Okay. Is he... Is he here?
Are you afraid?
We can protect you. I can get you somewhere.
Don't concern yourself.
Not any concern of yours, is it?
I'm fine.
It's fine. Really.
- Okay. - Can I interest you in a souvenir?
- We make our own snow globes. - No, you cannot.
[bell rings]
[Lois] This girl in here is being beaten too.
She was using makeup to cover up a black eye.
W-We got two abused women running around here.
Let's find Andrea.
Did you tell her you're a cop?
No. There's only so much you can do.
I mean, you can't force people to leave.
I've seen it so many times in my career, you know?
Andrea, you okay?
The women that stay end up dead.
- [Sister Megan] I'm coming in, okay? - You cannot get involved
unless they ask for help.
That's a fact.
Andrea, we just wanna make sure you're okay.
[Lois] Oh, my God.
I knew we shouldn't have left her alone.
You trying to say this is my fault?
Do not look at me like that.
I pulled over. I picked the girl up.
What did you want me to do? Put her on a fucking leash?
[cartoon plays on TV]
[Lois] Y'all just saw a bloody girl run through here with no reaction, huh?
[Lois] Look at this.
[Nick] Afternoon, ladies.
[Lois] Yes, it is.
Look, I gotta get out of this fucking smoke.
I got a migraine.
- [Nick whistles] - My eyes hurt so bad I can't even see.
I hate it here.
Something is so off about this place.
Yes, it is.
[Sister Megan] You think we're safe here?
Safe? Very.
There's only ash raining down
and bloody women running all around the place.
But sure, we are so safe.
- [sighs] - [whispers]
Please guide us with your precious wisdom.
[Lois] You drop a contact lens or something?
[Sister Megan] You're welcome to join me.
- You don't even have to say anything. - [sighs]
No, I'd just feel silly.
So what? Feel silly.
I dare you.
Fuck off. Read the room.
I'm not gonna hold your hand while you write a letter to Santa.
[Sister Megan] I understand this a reflex for you,
a reaction to stress-- to be sharp--
but this is how I deal with stress.
You can't speak to me that way.
[Lois sighs] You are absolutely right.
It is how I deal with stress.
I get sharp.
I mean, I have done it for 35 years of my career.
And that's how I survived, okay?
So you don't get to tell me how to be 'cause-- mm-mmm-- you are not my partner.
Actually, I am your partner.
Today.
In this, I am.
Does anything around this fucking place work?
[TV switches on]
[reporter] This is now the fourth day of civil unrest,
as clashes between protesters and the National Guard only escal--
[preacher] Most Christians haven't read it.
They've never read it through from Genesis...
[Lois] This fucking asshole.
[reporter 1] ...raging fire that has engulfed
- more than 20,000 acres. - [Lois] Jesus.
[reporter 2] Another one in a thousand--
[reporter 3] Less than five--
[interviewee] We're not even safe in our own communities anymore
- because people don't take it seriously. - It is the same goddamned thing
on every channel.
- Where's my phone? - [phone rings]
That man at the gas station had the right idea.
What? Dig fire lines?
We should clear away the brush, the debris from the side of the building.
Lord knows Nick ain't gonna do it.
It only takes one ember to catch the wind, to blow our way.
- You wanna give me a hand? - I do not.
I wanna take a shower.
[line rings]
[whispers] For Christ's sake.
I am, uh, so sorry I couldn't get back to you.
I'm in the middle of nowhere, and the reception here is shit.
Um... [smacks lips]
There are really bad wildfires. You heard about it?
We are right in the middle of it.
[Nurse Redd] Lois, I wonder if you've given
any more thought to our conversation.
What conversation is that?
- The one we had a couple of weeks ago. - [pipes groan]
Shit.
Remind me.
The resources at our facility.
Like I said, we can't just keep somebody on life support in perpetuity.
I can't legally make any changes to Marshall's status
- without you giving the go-ahead. - [wind whistling]
But we do need these beds.
If I didn't know any better,
I'd think you were telling me to end my husband's flatlined.
[footsteps approaching]
[panting]
Lois, I think there's somebody out there.
- [tires screeching] - [loud crash]
[driver 1] What the fuck?
You came in my lane!
- [driver 2 shouting] - [passenger screams]
[driver 1] This is America. We speak English in America.
I'm coming!
- Nick, you're so fucking stupid. - Who do you think you're talking to?
- Are you okay? - [receptionist] I'm so sick of this!
[Nick] You know why we're here?
[receptionist] I'm just talking to you. I'm trying to have a conversation.
[drivers shouting]
It's okay. Is anyone hurt?
- Is anyone hurt? - [yells in Spanish]
- I don't understand - [driver 1] He came into my lane!
- [mother mutters] - Okay, okay, okay.
Are you okay? Are you okay?
Okay. Okay.
I'm gonna help you.
- [Nick] This is you! - [receptionist coughs, splutters]
[receptionist gasps] I'm sorr--
- Hey! - [Nick] A fucking nun.
- I'm gonna be back. I'll be just a second. - [mother speaks Spanish]
- I'm sorry. - [Nick yelling]
Stop it!
You're hurting her!
What are you doing?
[receptionist panting]
You're gonna make it worse. You're gonna make it worse.
Get the fuck out of here.
Awful.
[Nurse Redd on phone] You're not getting any better.
Wait. What do you mean I'm not getting better?
- I... What? - [distorted voice on phone]
- Hello? Hello? - Lois. Lois, we have to get out of here.
Nick is drowning her in the pool. In the acidic pool.
- He's dangerous. - I... I need a phone now.
It's dead.
Shit. I'll be right back.
- Where are you going? - I need a fucking phone.
Lois.
[Nick] Afternoon.
[sighs]
[whispers] I just need a phone. I need a phone.
[bell rings]
[sighs]
Would you like us to open the restaurant for you?
Nick can make you some food.
[Lois] What the fuck is going on? Did you get beat again?
No. I... I bruise easy. Um...
You know what?
Phone. Let me get the phone.
Andrea, get back here now.
[busy signal beeping]
- [gunshots] - [Lois screams]
- [glass shattering] - [screams]
[bullets whizzing, striking]
[grunting, panting]
- [Sister Megan] What's happening? - Grab me that box of shells.
Get in the bathroom now.
[Sister Megan pants]
[gunfire on TV, muffled]
[both panting]
He is out there. He just tried to kill me.
Shells. Give me shells.
[panting] Here. Here.
- He is stalking us. He is hunting us. - Dear Lord, we need a path to safety.
- Please stop praying. - I pray for you.
I feel we are near the end. I'm trusting you.
- Do you feel that energy? - I'm overwhelmed.
I felt it around me all day.
- Do you feel it? - Yes, I felt something.
Why do you think I've been praying so much?
[pants] We gotta get out of here.
Okay, um...
We will wait until it's dark.
- Father, touch us with your healing hands... - Then we'll make a move.
- ...for I believe it is your will for Lois... - Stop it.
...to be well of mind, body, soul and spirit.
Cover us with the most precious blood of your son, our Lord--
There's enough bloody people running around here, Sister.
- Who else am I supposed to speak to? - I don't know.
- No one else is listening. - What is this? The last fucking rites?
- Stop it! - [shushes]
[Nick] Get your skinny ass back inside.
[receptionist] There's nobody out there. See?
- [Nick] The fuck do you know? - [Sister Megan] Come here.
[receptionist] Hundred bucks says it was Hooter and his asshole little cousin...
[whispers] Listen.
[Andrea mutters]
- [Nick] Hey! Hey! - She needs help.
- [Nick yelling] - [receptionist] Nick, stop! Nick, please,
- no. No! - [Nick yelling]
It's Andrea.
- [Nick, receptionist yelling] - [Lois] You stay behind me.
Stop! Don't shoot her!
Please! Stop!
- Please don't shoot me. - [Nick] Move!
Please don't--
You stay behind me. Do exactly what I say.
- She needs help. - Go get a blanket.
Hey! Put the gun down!
She's with us!
- I don't trust any of you bitches! - ...stop.
No, no, no. Andrea, can you come to us?
Come here, baby.
- Everybody, calm down! - Stay the fuck down!
We have to go to her.
We cannot. We will be exposed on all sides.
[vehicle approaches]
[Lois] Oh, shit.
[Nick] Who's that?
Stay in your car!
- [gunshots] - [Andrea screams]
Lois.
[Lois] I'm out.
- Shit, don't you move. - [gunshots continue]
[Andrea screaming]
[Sister Megan] Andrea!
[gunshot, echoes]
[heartbeat thumping]
[Lois] Megan!
[both panting]
Okay. Okay.
- It's okay. You're okay. - I'm okay. [groans, mutters]
You're gonna be okay.
Don't try to talk, baby. Don't try to talk.
[Sister Megan] Pray with me.
[Lois gasps] You're gonna try to get your way, huh?
- [Lois] Okay. Come on. - [Sister Megan] Angels watch me.
[Lois] Angels watch me.
- Through the night. - Through the night.
- Keep me safe till morning light. - Keep me safe till morning...
[Lois shushes] It's okay, baby. It's okay. It's gonna be okay. All right.
Call for help!
[helicopter whirring]
- [machine beeping] - [mask hissing]
[siren wailing, muffled]
[paramedic] One GSW, through and through.
[Lois] Is she gonna be okay?
[paramedic] She was bleeding out. Definitely got a hemo.
[Lois] She's gonna be okay, right?
Hang in there, Sister.
Hang in there.
- Tachy at 144... - [paramedic chattering]
- [machines beep] - [flask cap rattles]
[footsteps approach]
Don't hover in the doorway.
In or out.
Who gave her carnations?
These, uh, depress her.
[wastebasket clattering]
[sighs]
Picked these for you.
They're wildflowers.
They smell great.
She used to take me on these little trips off the beaten path
on the Palms to Pines highway.
And we'd pick flowers just like that.
We would make fun of the names.
Hoary tansyaster.
She said it was like something...
Like a pickpocket out of a Dickens book.
[Father Charles chuckles]
How are you doing, Father?
What are they saying?
They do not want to set up false hope.
What the fuck was she doing out there with you?
Covering murders-- that was your brilliant idea.
Right?
Kinda like the Catholic National goddamn Inquirer, right?
Do you have any idea who shot her?
They were following you.
Hey. Hey.
You were hunted.
Yes.
Yes, I was.
And clearly it was personal and has been from the beginning.
So you think that somebody wants you dead?
Yes, I do.
You used her for bait.
Wingman and bait, excuse me.
Do you think this is easy?
[breathes deeply]
God, you fucking use people.
And you have no idea who this is.
You have no idea who's lying in this bed.
You need to find this person, and I will be here alone with her.
So go.
Go. Go. Go. Go. Go.
Go now, please.
Yeah, well, I guess I'll save my critique of you for later
so it doesn't just piggyback onto the prior one in a blur.
I do need help though. I... I need another set of eyes--
Already ahead of you.
Your ten most likely cases to come back and haunt you.
Someone who wants revenge, to make you pay.
Not easy winnowing down that fuckin' rogues' gallery.
- [Lois sighs] - Wanna play three guesses?
Um...
Butch DeGrot.
He's still at Pelican Bay.
- He's in solitary forever. - Hmm.
Then there's Liam Mabuto.
He got a law degree inside.
He's a Buddhist lawyer with rheumatoid arthritis.
- [sighs] - Also no chance of parole.
Then there's, uh, Donny O'Malley.
OD'ed on fentanyl during a bank robbery, and he's on life support in Vacaville.
During? Dumb fucker. Who else?
So that leaves Oldham Haynes and Marco Mardigian.
And Glorious McKall, but she's got life in prison.
[stammers]
Glorious got out?
She was released two months ago.
How come no one told me?
That's right around time the murders started.
The timeline fits.
[stammers]
Jesus.
How did she get out?
What can I say?
Strange days.
Strange days indeed.
[chatter on PA]
[wind whistling]
- [thunder rumbles] - [snoring]
[sirens wailing]
- [wailing stops] - [phone rings]
Mmm.
[phone rings]
[Lois groans]
[phone rings]
[groans] This is Lois.
Yes.
[stammers]
Can you repeat that?
[person retching]
[retching, coughing]
What is this place?
It's a maternity house connected to Saint Agnes Church
where pregnant women can decide
whether they wanna give their children up for adoption.
It's right down this way.
Over here.
- [paper rustling] - [pen scribbling]
[Lois, reading] "Follow me, Detective Tryon."
She was 30 weeks, she was 32 weeks,
and this one made it all the way to 40 weeks.
He used C-section retractors.
They bled out.
Good cesarean work though.
No sign of the babies.
All he had to do was stitch 'em up and they would've lived.
They died of shock and blood loss.
He waited until I was out of town to do this, Jack.
Yep.
The governor just asked the FBI to take over.
I don't think I'll have my job by this time tomorrow.
And, Lo, they're probably gonna ask you to retire too.
We're out.
I won't do it.
I'm not going out on this fucker beating me like this.
The Daily News has an editorial insisting on federal intervention.
They reluctantly conclude that, quote, "This is too much for us."
- [paper rustling] - [pen scribbling]
He's...
He's taunting you.
You're his fuckin' mouse, his...
his lab rat.
I don't know. Maybe...
Maybe if you're not on the case, he won't kill anybody else.
Jack, are you fucking delusional?
He is never gonna stop.
Not ever.
He-- or she-- wants me to hunt them.
And for some reason, it has to be me.
Yeah, maybe.
Okay, look.
I want every street camera, security, uh, door front,
everything within a three-mile radius.
In the meantime, until we're fired,
let the dead bury the dead.
What does that phrase even mean?
It means our killer is inviting me to be a follower.
[phone rings]
- This is Cranburn. - [sighs]
- [smacks lips] - Yeah.
Where?
Hey, Lo.
We got somethin'.
[thunder rumbles]
[officer] You know what I find?
If you scratch 'em right behind the ear, just like this...
See? Works every time.
My dog's the same.
You know what kind I have? He's a black Lab.
- His name's Carl. - [chatter on TV]
He's got this big tail.
When he gets excited, he wags it, and it just knocks everything over.
You called like there was an emergency. I was expecting the cavalry.
Give me one sec.
Uh... Nothing like that.
The oldest-- the girl-- she went and knocked on the neighbor's door.
Neighbor came over and found the boys hiding under the bed.
Mom nowhere to be found.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
I know I'm not here 'cause these kids don't have a babysitter.
Finally, the girl said that a man stopped by last night.
Mom left with him.
Uh... Forced entry?
You're good with them.
I don't know why you wanna be a goddamn cop.
It's a waste.
Hey, pretty girl.
What do you say we crack open a bag of these M&M's?
Peanut are my favorite.
It's not for us. Mom will be mad.
Okay.
We don't want Mom to get mad.
My name is Lois,
and my job is to get Mommy back home as soon as possible.
And Clancy.
Who's Clancy, baby?
Mommy was pregnant? She had a baby in her stomach?
Okay. Well, you know what?
I'm gonna get Mom and Clancy back home like that.
You told my friend over there that, um, a man came.
Can you tell me about the man?
Can you tell me what he looked like?
No, no, no. No, no, no.
[shushes] Don't cry, baby. Hey, hey, hey.
Hey, I'ma take care of it. Okay?
I promise.
Kid.
You're Franklin.
Good job. You saw something. I can use you.
[train horn blows]
[brakes squeal]
[engine stops]
[person panting, crying]
[panting, crying continues]
Is the baby breathing?
[sniffles, sobbing] Please, ma'am. You gotta get us to a hospital.
Okay. I will make sure you both get to a hospital, okay?
He's... [whispers] He's gonna kill me.
[Lois shushes]
Calm down. Calm... Here, give me the baby.
- Come on. Give me the baby. - [cries]
Give me the baby.
[whispers] He's coming.
He's coming.
- He's coming! - [cries]
He's coming!