Distressed that Jimmy has disappeared with a gun, Beth decides not to wait for the telephone line to clear and goes to Meadowlands herself to warn Gabriel. When Gabriel opens the door, Beth immediately sees that Gabriel has mistaken her arrival for a declaration that she has left Frank. Beth corrects him at once and explains that Jimmy knows about their affair, is drunk, has made threats, and may be coming to attack Gabriel.

Leo overhears the conversation from the hall and panics, asking whether Jimmy is going to kill Gabriel. Gabriel comforts Leo and brings Beth inside to lock up. The three sit tensely at the kitchen table, unable to pretend things are normal. Beth tries to reassure Leo that Jimmy would not really hurt anyone, but even as Beth speaks, Beth remembers Jimmy's history of drunken aggression and realizes that the family has ignored clear warning signs.

The danger becomes immediate when a loud bang shatters the kitchen window. Jimmy is outside with a shotgun, staring in. Beth shouts at Jimmy, but Jimmy gives no sign of listening and calmly reloads. Gabriel forces Leo under the table and tells Beth to get down as well. Beth first believes Beth might be able to talk Jimmy down because of their long history, but a second gunshot convinces Beth that Jimmy is no longer merely angry but dangerously unhinged.

As Leo trembles beside Beth under the table, Beth tries to think of a way to stop the situation. Beth warns Gabriel not to go outside, but Gabriel runs to the front of the house anyway. Beth recognizes that this is a brief moment when Beth might still prevent disaster, yet Beth stays hidden with Leo instead of intervening. Leo, terrified, wets himself and then tells Beth that Jimmy killed Leo's dog, linking this crisis back to the earlier violence that set everything in motion and deepening Beth's sense of dread and guilt.