Saint begins building a weekday life in Kansas City while returning on weekends to see Jimmy. The distance exposes growing strain in the marriage: Jimmy has become quieter since failing his exams, and when Saint tells him she will spend much of her time in Kansas for the investigation, he reacts by punching the refrigerator. Saint later repeats the incident to Norma, who says Jimmy’s anger is really fear.

As the weeks pass, Saint remakes her routine and, in small ways, herself. She runs in the early mornings, changes her hair, watches the city’s fashions shift around her, and shops at the farmers’ market with habits that remind her of home. These domestic rituals give Saint comfort, but they also make clear that she prefers the calm of living alone; when she speaks to Jimmy, he often says little and shows no interest in her days.

At night, Saint sits alone in her apartment and listens to old interview tapes of Patch. Hearing Patch’s younger voice saying that he misses the girl he is searching for keeps his absence emotionally present and reinforces why Saint is involved in the case. Patch is no longer only a fugitive tied to robberies; for Saint, he remains the boy still driven by loss.

Saint’s arrangement with FBI agent Himes is laid out plainly: Saint will help search for Patch because Himes believes she can find him when others cannot, and in return the FBI will use its resources to help her look for Grace. While training with Himes’s team, Saint questions why Himes cares so much about a robber who has not taken very much. Himes admits the case has become personal because he has a daughter and sees Patch, Joseph Macauley, as a boy who once tried to save girls in danger. Himes warns that Patch’s luck is running out and that if Saint does not bring him in soon, someone else will kill him.