Patch continues moving by bus through several states and counties, watching anonymous travelers come and go as he pushes onward. In Oklahoma City, he spends the night in a bus station and calls Saint because his thoughts have returned to Callie Montrose. Patch wonders why Marty Tooms killed Callie and the other girls, and Saint, worried by how far he is pushing himself, begs him to stop before he becomes even more reckless.

During the call, Saint says she needs to see Patch and tell him something, and Patch correctly guesses that she is pregnant. Patch tells Saint she would be a good mother, then turns the conversation toward himself, saying he has never really been good and has always been close to falling. He admits that Sammy calls him a hustler and confesses that he may have done that to Misty by letting her believe in a version of him that was comforting, even if it was not fully honest.

Patch also asks whether Saint has learned anything from the rosary beads, but Saint says she still has nothing and is still searching. They talk for a while about Monta Clare, Norma, and Chief Nix, which gives the conversation the feel of an old connection neither of them can fully leave behind. When they end the call, Saint cannot bring herself to say good night, and Patch does not realize that she has traced his location.

Afterward, Patch enters town on foot with a map covered in notes and sits outside St. Joseph's Cathedral. An elderly woman notices his eye patch and jokingly asks whether he is a pirate. Patch plays along and tells her that he now has a wife, Grace, and a small life out west, revealing his longing for a peaceful future with the girl he still seeks. The woman tells him that he has come from the dark into the light.

That same afternoon, Patch robs the MidFirst Bank. Because Saint traced his earlier call, she arrives only fifteen minutes later. The chapter ends with the sense that Patch's freedom is narrowing and that Saint is finally drawing close enough to catch up with him.