The family, still navigating the strained relationships and betrayals, operated with caution. Jamie, eager to earn back their trust, seized the opportunity to help, offering to pick up Spencer from school.
Afterwards Jamie took a detour with Spencer and drove to some place in the woods. Spencer confused asked, " Where are we Uncle Jamie?"
Jamie, masking his nervousness, tried to reassure her, "Wait here, I'll just be a minute." He handed her some cookies and fiddled with the radio dial. "Here, you can listen to some music."
Outside the car, Jamie met with Sarah, the journalist aiming to write an exposé on John and the ranch. An eerie silence enveloped the woods, broken only by muffled voices. Spencer, keenly observing from the car, felt a knot tighten in her stomach.
Suddenly, Jamie's voice escalated, resonating through the trees. Spencer strained to understand the words, but the atmosphere grew more unsettling by the second. Then, Jamie's silhouette rushed toward Sarah, forcefully pushing her against the car. Spencer gasped, cookies forgotten.
A chilling scene unfolded before her. Jamie, driven by desperation, resorted to violence. He began to strangle Sarah. Spencer's breath quickened. As Jamie's anguished scream echoed, Spencer sat frozen, witnessing a reality she couldn't comprehend.
Moments later, Jamie opened the trunk, locking eyes with the traumatized Spencer. He uttered, "Don't look, Spence." Her shock held her captive as she faced forward, covering her ears to escape the gruesome sounds of Jamie struggling to load Sarah's lifeless body into the trunk.
Attempting to console Spencer, Jamie got into the driver's seat and said, "We are going to get her some help. She will be okay, don't worry, Penny." But Spencer, still processing the horror she had just witnessed, remained silent, understanding deep down that the woman in the trunk was far from okay. The SUV rumbled to life, heading back to the ranch, a heavy silence enveloping the vehicle.
---
The SUV rolled to a stop at the Yellowstone Ranch. As Jamie stepped out, the weight of his dark actions settled heavily on his shoulders. Spencer, visibly shaken, ran toward Rip, seeking comfort. Rip, perceptive to the distress, knelt down, cupping Spencer's face, "You alright, cub?" Spencer clung to Rip, her silent distress palpable.
Jamie approached, a storm of guilt clouding his expression. Rip, sensing something amiss, redirected Spencer, "Hey, you go up to the lodge and hang out with Gator. I'll handle this." Spencer nodded, her trust in Rip unwavering as she walked away, leaving the adults to confront the shadows.
Rip turned his attention to Jamie, concern etched across his face. "What happened? Jamie, what happened?" The urgency in Rip's voice betrayed the gravity of the situation.
Struggling to articulate the horror he had unleashed, Jamie opened the trunk, revealing Sarah's lifeless body. "It all went wrong. What do we do?"
Rip, visibly disturbed, considered the implications. "Let me talk to your father."
Panicking, Jamie intercepted Rip's attempt to leave. "No, Rip, no."
Rip, infuriated by the gravity of Jamie's actions, pushed him against the car. "I don't work for you. Yeah... I don't work for you."
Desperate to salvage the situation, Jamie pleaded, "I know, okay. If you tell him, then he's an accessory to murder. So is Spencer. Right now, the only person accountable is me. We need to keep it that way."
Rip, on the verge of exploding, demanded, "What the f*ck, Jamie!" His frustration manifested in a threatening stance.
Interrupting Rip's brewing rage, Jamie stopped him and lied, "I promise she didn't see anything. I picked her up from school after it happened."
Rip, exasperated, attempted to distance himself, muttering, "I'm just a wrangler now. Kayce has my job."
Jamie begged, "Rip, please... As a friend. I've always treated you like an equal. Like a friend."
Rip, conflicted but acknowledging the history they shared, sighed. "Yeah... You have." Reluctantly, Rip agreed to help, devising a plan that involved dragging another unsuspecting soul, Walker, into their web, making him an accessory to the murder as well. The gravity of their actions reverberated through the ranch, a sinister secret that threatened to shatter the fragile bonds holding the Dutton family together.
---
In the dim glow of John's office, Tate and Spencer sat huddled together, their young minds creating worlds on paper. Tate, eager for the adventures of the upcoming hunting trip, turned to Spencer, "Are you coming deer hunting with us tomorrow?" Spencer, lost in her thoughts, shook her head, her focus elsewhere, "No."
Meanwhile, the television in John's office flickered with the latest news. Tate and Spencer remained unaware as they continued to draw. John, absorbed in the report, learned of Sarah's tragic fate—the third death by water this year. As the realization of the connection struck Spencer, she recognized the face on the screen.
The weight of the news lingered in the air as John, somber and contemplative, turned off the TV. He instructed the kids to head upstairs, their bedtime approaching. In the solitude of the room, John allowed the gravity of the situation to settle over him.
As he turned away from the darkened screen, he noticed Spencer standing at the door, her tear-streaked face betraying her distress. In a hushed, whimpered whisper, she uttered, "Grandpa." John's concern deepened as he walked up to her, his voice gentle, "What's wrong, Penny?"
Struggling to find the words, Spencer managed to convey the horrifying truth, "Uncle Jamie... he... after school... he hurt her." The weight of the revelation hung in the air, and John, understanding the severity, reassured her, "It'll be alright, Penny. I'll handle it." Spencer, still shaken, managed to share Jamie's misguided reassurance, "Uncle Jamie said she was going to be okay."
John, with a heavy heart, embraced Spencer, offering the comfort and solace she desperately needed in the face of the grim reality that had unfolded in their lives.
The news report echoed through the Dutton residence, the weight of the revelation settling heavily on John's shoulders. His grim thoughts led him to the living room, where he found Jamie drowning his sorrows in alcohol.
John, the disappointment evident in his eyes, addressed Jamie sternly, "Look at me. Look at me, son. How do we move on from this? I don't know how to do that."
Jamie, burdened by the weight of his actions, responded, "I had no choice."
John's disappointment deepened as he asserted, "There's always a choice. You could've jumped in the river. But hurting yourself never entered your mind, did it?"
As John turned away, a heavy silence lingered in the room. The truth of Jamie's actions weighed on both of them, a darkness that threatened to consume any hope of redemption. John, leaving the living room, delivered a final directive to Jamie, "Don't talk to Spencer unless it's an apology. She's scarred enough of you now as it is."
Left alone on the couch, Jamie grappled with the consequences of his choices, the room echoing with the weight of regret and the irrevocable damage inflicted on their family
---
In the soft glow of the morning light, Beth stood at the doorway of Jamie's bathroom, her piercing gaze fixed upon him as he scrubbed his face. She wasted no time, launching into a confrontation that had been building within her since Spencer had revealed Jamie's horrifying actions.
"I blame myself. To a degree," Beth began, her voice carrying a mix of anger and disappointment. "You know what's so dangerous about you, Jamie? You justify every act before you commit them. You're consumed with the world's perception of you. What kind of man I am, that's not a question you ever ask yourself. What does the world think of me, that's the only question you ask."
As Jamie continued to scrub, Beth's words sliced through the air, exposing the depth of his moral shortcomings. "Morality, loyalty, not part of the equation for you. But you've finally done something that makes you see yourself the way the world does. The way I see you. The way he sees you. And no amount of scrubbing is going to change that."
Beth closed the distance between them, her presence imposing as she looked Jamie squarely in the eye. Her fist pressed against his chest, a physical manifestation of her determination. "Don't talk to my daughter unless she talks to you."
Leaving him to his self-reflection, Beth delivered a final, cutting remark, "I've got to tell you something, and it comes from a place of love. You should really consider k*lling yourself."
With those harsh words hanging in the air, Beth exited the room, leaving Jamie alone to grapple with the weight of his actions and the impact they had on those around him. His sobs echoed in the confines of the bathroom, a stark reflection of the turmoil within