Sadie

West thinks he is looking for Darren, whom Sadie believes is her father. To find Darren, West searches for Claire’s other boyfriends. West cannot find any record of Keith, the boyfriend who lived with the girls the longest. May Beth says that Keith tried to look after the girls and was sober, so he was her favorite. He treated May Beth with respect and was religious.

West interviews Paul Good, who is reluctant to talk about his time with Claire when Mattie was nine and Sadie was 15. He fell in love with Claire and became an addict. Claire eventually got tired of him, and Paul felt relief after he left. Claire never mentioned Darren to Paul.

West tells May Beth that he has no new leads. May Beth pauses and says she may know something but doesn’t want to get Sadie in trouble. West reminds her that she doesn’t want “another dead girl.”

Sadie pulls her car over and remembers the night before Claire left. She pretended to be asleep while Claire caressed her hair and face in a way she never had before, then whispered “I made you” in her ear. Claire was gone in the morning, and Mattie “almost did not survive it” (153). Only the postcard from Los Angeles revived Mattie.

Sadie sees a girl, Cat, hitchhiking. Sadie asks Cat if she knows where Langford is. Cat offers to look it up on her phone, so Sadie gives her a ride.

Sadie turns the radio on to West’s podcast. His smooth voice reminds Sadie of Silas so she turns it off. Cat asks Sadie why she is headed to the address. Sadie replies that she’s meeting her sister there for a road trip. As they chat, the car begins to hydroplane and they almost crash.

Sadie parks the car to wait for the rain to ease. Cat comments that she’s a runaway. Sadie is so tired that she begins to complain about Mattie, which she instantly regrets. Cat talks about her parents, citing them as the reason she ran away. Sadie comments that she doesn’t have a dad, only a series of her mother’s bad boyfriends. Cat asks which was the worst. Sadie hesitates then shows a cigarette scar on the back of her neck. Sadie is struck by Cat’s kindness. Cat touches Sadie battered face and kisses her.

Sadie feels her sad reality setting back in and falls asleep.

May Beth talks about the night before Mattie disappeared, when the girls argued because Sadie refused to use her savings to fly to Los Angeles.

May Beth says that Sadie came to her place and May Beth convinced her to stay, thinking it would show Mattie she needed to appreciate her sister more. May Beth now wonders what would have happened if Sadie had gone home, and if she prevented Mattie from getting in the truck.

May Beth shares her important information with West: She found a credit card owned by Cat Mather under the seat of Sadie’s car.

West says Cat was easy to track down.

Sadie wakes in her car. Cat seems strangely quiet now as they drive. She spots a gas station, and Sadie pulls over. Cat hands Sadie cash and goes to the bathroom. Cat goes inside and when she returns to the car, Cat and her bag are gone.

Sadie panics, thinking Cat may have been abducted. It reminds her of when she searched for Mattie. Sadie asks the attendant if he saw Cat and he replies that he saw a girl hitch a ride.

Sadie sees that Cat went through her things in the backseat. Sadie’s bloodstained shirt and switchblade are out in the open, no longer stuffed under the seat. 

West tells his listeners that Cat Mather was found after being missing for two years. West explains his search for Sadie to Cat, who says that Sadie picked her up as they were both leaving Montgomery.

Meanwhile, Montgomery is rocked by a scandal involving a pillar of its community, Silas Baker, who is arrested for sexually abusing young children he coached.

Cat says that they chatted and Sadie almost got into an accident. Cat thought Sadie was on drugs, so after Sadie fell asleep, she searched the car. After finding Sadie’s blood-soaked shirt and switchblade, Cat got away at the first opportunity. West asks if Cat knows where Sadie was headed. Cat remembers the address she looked up.

May Beth calls and says that Claire is back.

Sadie arrives in Langdon and finds that Keith’s address is at the Bluebird Motel. Sadie asks the owner, Joe, for a room and if he knows Darren Marshall. He says he does. Sadie says Darren is an old family friend who told her to stop by if she was in the area. Darren is not there at present.

Sadie showers in the shoddy motel room and goes to bed. She falls asleep and has nightmares of a man coming into her room.

West arrives in Cold Creek. Claire refuses to speak to him at first. West is surprised that Claire looks healthy and reports that she is clean now.

Claire says that she found out Mattie was dead from TV news. She tried to commit suicide then went to rehab. Claire did not know Sadie was missing until she returned to Cold Creek. West asks why she returned and is surprised when Claire breaks down crying. She says that she got clean because Mattie was dead and Sadie was alone.

West tells Claire the details of Sadie’s disappearance. May Beth shows Claire the postcard, demanding to know why Claire sent it. Claire takes the postcard and cries again. May Beth angrily tells her that Mattie suffered so much after she left and disappeared because she wanted to find her. Claire insists May Beth go back inside before she will speak to West again.

Claire tearfully says that she was a kid and an addict when Sadie was born. May Beth took Sadie and turned the girl against her. When Mattie was born, Mattie loved her mother.

West asks if Claire knows Darren, adding that Sadie appears to be looking for her father. Claire replies that she doesn’t know who Sadie’s father is.

Sadie wakes in the motel room. She goes to the office and asks the young attendant, Ellis, if he’s seen Darren. Sadie learns that Darren has a permanent room at the motel because he saved the owner’s life. Sadie asks Ellis how well he knows Darren. Ellis replies that he met Darren online and that he’s a great guy.

Sadie walks around the back of the building. She hits Keith’s bathroom window with a rock and her arm goes through the glass, ripping the skin open. Sadie pushes herself through the cleared window.

Sadie searches the messy room. There is a matchbook from Cooper’s, the bar where she met Kendall and her friends. Sadie lifts the mattress and finds an envelope, which contains multiple fake driver licenses, all with Keith’s picture, and material tags. There are black Xs on most of the licenses, indicating personas that he cannot reuse.

The tags are from clothing with girls’ names written on them, including one saying “Sadie.” Sadie looks at the photo of her family and sees that her shirt in it matches the tag.

Ellis slams the door open. Sadie grabs him, puts her switchblade to his throat, and demands, “A-are you l-like him?” (217). Ellis does not understand, so Sadie asks if he’s also a pedophile. Ellis denies this. Sadie asks how he met Darren online, and Ellis insists it was through a video game. Ellis tries to calm Sadie who resists, still holding the switchblade. Ellis begs Sadie to let him help her.

West finds the Bluebird Motel from the address Cat gave him. The motel will soon be demolished. West interviews Joe Perkins, who inherited the motel from his parents.

West asks Joe if he remembers Sadie from five months ago. Joe does, saying that she was looking for his friend Darren. Joe explains that Darren saved his life, so Joe offered Darren a permanent room. Joe tried to call Darren to say he sold the motel, but his number is disconnected.

West asks to see Darren’s room. Joe hesitates, saying that Darren asked that they leave his room alone. West says it may offer clues to the disappearance of Sadie and Darren.

Ellis is grateful that Sadie did not kill him, but Sadie knows it was because she is too “broken” to kill, even in self-preservation. Ellis disinfects and bandages her cuts since Sadie refuses to go to the hospital.

Sadie tells Ellis that Darren/Keith has been abusing children. Ellis swears that he had nothing to do with that. He asks what the tags are and Sadie replies, “T-trophies. K-kids he’s hurt” (227). Sadie says that he did something to her sister. Ellis insists they call the police, but Sadie refuses, saying she must find Keith herself.

Sadie asks if Ellis knows where Darren/Keith is. Ellis hesitates. Sadie asks if Ellis is willing to risk some little girl’s life, as both of them cry.

Joe opens Darren’s room, which is wrecked. The bathroom window is broken. Joe notices blood on the carpet.

West finds the photo of Sadie and her family half-hidden under the bed. Joe confirms that is Darren in the photo. West texts the photo to May Beth, who says it’s the missing picture from her photo album.