Oh!
I love it, Jerrie.
But it's a little old-fashioned for you, isn't it?
I'm going for a little hope.
You know, in pandemic times, people want to believe,
especially in love.
Maybe you're right.
Think she's right, Jenny?
Huh?
Folks want to believe in love?
Uh... yeah.
Yeah, maybe.
Why not?
- More coffee, hon? - Sure.
Didn't she just order?
One of her moods. I've seen her moods.
Not pretty.
Good morning.
Dewell & Hoyt, Private Investigation.
Hey... girl.
Hey.
Is that the lyric of the day?
"It's all over now"?
What's going on?
You tell me, Cass.
Are you sleeping with my husband?
Whoa.
"Whoa."
That's not exactly a denial, is it?
- You've been in my home. - Jenny...
E-Excuse me, Denise. I'm talking to Cassie.
Had supper at my table.
First of all, you two are over.
That what he said?
- What you said. - Where is Cody, anyway?
Separated does not mean over.
It means separated.
Jenny, we sat having a beer,
you told me you wished he'd meet someone.
So you took that to mean it should be you.
'Cause that's the kind of swell friend you are.
It just happened.
I... I didn't plan it.
And...
Nothing I'm proud of.
Well. So long as you're not proud of it.
I thought you two were over.
We have a kid, Cassie.
And you knew?
You know, it's none of my business.
Oh, no, that's a lie, Denise!
'Cause you make everything your business.
Tell Cody hi for me when he shows up.
Wow.
Great.
Uh, Cody. Hey.
Uh, might want to pop in.
Stuff's come up.
Hey, honey.
You headed back out already?
Dead-headed back.
Got a full load going out to Jackson Hole later.
You took food to your room last night,
but I didn't see that the dishes were returned.
We keep a clean house, Ronald.
Mom.
My house, my rules.
That's it? Clean my dishes?
I didn't come to argue.
Why did you come, Mom?
I really don't mean to be a nuisance, honey.
But I guess mothers can get that way.
You know, "Don't forget to clean your room,"
"Don't forget to do your homework."
"Don't be 38 years old
and not have made something of yourself."
Are you serious?
I realize this is my issue, not yours.
My problem.
It's just that when I get together with my friends,
they tend to brag about their children.
"My niece just passed the bar exam,"
"Johnny's just been made vice president of whatever."
Eventually, eyes turn to me.
And I get to say...
"Ronald drives a really big truck."
Oh.
Look at you, making your boo-boo face.
We'll talk about it later if you want.
I guess there are benefits to being a 38-year-old man
who still lives with his mother.
Opportunities for talk time.
You need to aspire, boo-boo.
Whoa-oa-oa-oa-oa.
Good morning, sir.
I'm an idiot.
I pulled over to take a picture of some elk,
and now I'm stuck.
Trooper Rick Legarski, Montana Highway Patrol.
Mitchell Banks, California tourist.
Ain't this America?
Best tech, worst roads.
Yeah.
Which part of California you from, sir?
San Francisco.
San Francisco?
Sanctuary city.
Yeah.
- Are you married, Mr. Banks? - I am.
- Happily? - Yes.
That's good to hear.
Tell me, Mr. Banks,
when you and your... bride?
Yeah.
... get conjugal,
does she like you to hop in the hay and just gun it
or maybe take it nice and slow?
I beg your pardon?
I want you to make love to that fine Montana soil.
Easy-peasy.
Like the Pointer Sisters say, slow hand.
Uh, in this case, a slow foot.
Oh. Okay.
Let's ease your way.
Nice and soft.
Gentle as she goes.
- Oh! - Ah, that's the ticket.
- Wow! - And you, sir, are good to go.
Well, thank you so much. Oh, my gosh.
Broken roads are like broken people sometimes.
They just want to be loved, easy-peasy.
I love Montana.
Oh, it's Mom.
- Hi, Mom! - Hi, Mom!
And what did I say about being on the phone while driving?
You called us.
I'm just calling to remind you.
"Text me when you get there."
And not a minute after.
Call me, too.
Make sure to check the fuel gauge.
There was one other thing.
Mm. You love us?
No, it must have been something else.
Love you, Mom.
Call me when you arrive in Montana.
- Bye! - Bye!
Still can't believe she let me go.
Oh. With me, she let you go, 'cause I got the good judgment.
- You got the boobs. - And the butt.
True. True.
Pick up, Jenny.
You keep your phone on ring and vibrate
and God knows what else.
Just answer the damn phone.
- Hey. - I'm off to pick up Kai.
- Cassie. - I'm running late.
Let's cut the wounded heart crap, can we please?
- Really? - I never misled you.
You were the one who said, "Don't get attached."
That you "keep your feelings in a jar inside a locked drawer."
Your words.
Seems I'm not the only one who lies to himself.
I'm off to pick up Kai.
I imagine it goes without saying
that you should've seen this train wreck coming.
Don't need the lecture, Denise.
Looks like you do.
Looking for some company?
Not today, sugar.
How we doin'?
Want to party?
I don't bite.
Unless you're looking for that.
Wow.
You're really ready for me, aren't you?
Something wrong?
You're very pretty.
Oh, why, thank you.
Aren't you sweet.
I haven't seen you before.
I'd remember you.
Have you been here before?
Truth be told...
... I'm a little new at this.
What's wrong?
Huh?
You're so beautiful.
Oh.
What's your name?
Michelle.
What's yours?
You have a face to fall in love with.
Oh, sugar. I'm not the type that people fall in love with.
Why not?
Because they don't.
I think you're selling yourself short.
People sell me short all the time.
Even my own mother.
Don't let them do that.
I won't.
Do you have a mother?
Why do you ask?
Well, no offense, but people in your... line of work,
I sometimes wonder what their parents think.
Well, I haven't spoken to my parents since...
I don't know when.
Well, they sure made a beautiful daughter.
That was nice.
So, what's it gonna be?
Hmm?
I think...
it will be... this.
Aah!
I'm sorry.
_
What did we say about you calling to check up on me?
Well, if not me, then who, Ronald?
I'm sorry we had words this morning.
Sometimes I just... worry so.
Understood.
I don't think you do. Do you?
Tell me, Mom,
is there a reason you can't be proud of me?
Truckers are not low-lifes.
In fact, we're just the opposite.
We're the lifeblood of the American economy,
now more than ever. Did you know that?
Yes.
You heal the nation. I keep forgetting.
I'm driving.
- No! No, I can't wait! - Stop having a tantrum!
- You just went! - I know this!
I know, but we just stopped!
Hey, baby. It's Justin.
Uh, still on I-90.
I'd say three more hours.
Ooh!
Can you possibly wait that long?
Yeah? Yeah? Really?
What do you want to do when I get there, huh?
When you first touch down on Planet Danielle.
What?
Okay. Um... yeah, that's fine.
Can you... just text me that?
Bye.
There's some big crash on I-90.
It's closed a few miles ahead.
What?
There are other routes. He's gonna text me.
No, I don't think we should get off the interstate.
We'll be fine. God!
More adventure.
He told me you were split.
Go.
If I thought for a second that you two...
Cassie!
You're not stupid. You made a choice.
Now, coming in here expecting me to believe you?
That's stupid.
You can believe whatever you want, but...
Right now I believe you should get your ass out of here.
Okay, so you're really committing to the "stupid" thing, aren't you?
You want to take the shot? Do it.
Aaah!
_
The other one's next door.
Hard to tell who won.
Oh, come on!
Maybe the best thing would be for us all to go someplace
- and talk this out. - I...
- Really? - I need to be home.
Justin's girlfriend is due in late tonight.
I need to be there when she arrives.
I need to be home, too.
Look, we gotta try to figure out
how to get on the same page here.
- Oh, come on! - Jenny and I are on the same page.
Yeah.
Sure.
Oh, great.
What?
That little red light is on.
The engine thingy.
Excuse me?
I think it gets hot sometimes.
You think it gets hot?
Don't start with me right now.
When was the last time
someone even looked under the hood of this thing?
And it's gone.
See?
God.
We're fine.
Whoa!
He came out of nowhere!
He could've killed us!
What a dick!
Danny.
Slow down!
- What are you doing?! - I'm gonna pass him.
Right. Good luck trying to catch up to him.
Oh, please.
Thank you, God.
All we needed was a little hill.
- Don't do anything stupid, Danielle. - I'm just driving.
You want to play with me?
Whoa!
- He did that on purpose. - Yeah, he did.
What an asshole.
- What are you doing?! - The hill's getting steeper.
- Don't do anything stupid. - I almost got him.
- Roll down the window! Roll it down! - Oh! Oh!
Dickwad!
- Loser! - Shut up!
Loser!
Danny, put your hands back on the wheel! Stop!
Come on!
No! No, no!
You didn't need to do that.
Oh, yes, I did.
On the downhill, he'll be able to catch up to us.
- Did you think about that? - No.
'Cause there's our exit.
Thank God.
Dickwad.
_
No!
_
Hey, Dad.
Hey.
What happened?
I got into a little... altercation.
With who?
Jenny Hoyt.
Jenny Ho... Cody's Jenny?
- About what? - Kai still awake?
Shouldn't be.
Mm.
Look what crawled into your bed somehow.
Grandpa said okay.
We'll talk about it in the morning.
Back to sleep now.
Are you sure we're in the right place?
Do you even know where we are?
Yankee Jim Canyon, near Yellowstone.
That's the way Justin thought it would take us.
Hey. We're fine.
Damn it.
- What? - I have no bars.
I have one bar.
Which is now gone.
Great.
What's that?
I don't know.
Do not tell me.
- Are we out of gas? - We're not out of gas, Grace.
What's happening?
That red light is on again.
- We're overheated. - What?!
- The engine is overheated, Danielle. - No.
You might have a... That's not gonna work.
You might have a busted radiator
or something. When was the last time
- you got this car in for a tune-up? - Do not start with me.
We are on a 12-hour road trip,
- and you didn't get the car checked?! - Grace, do not start with me!
Are we working on us or not?
Just tell me, Cody.
You should ice that eye.
The thing about Cassie...
she's got a thing about being moral.
She had to figure that you and I were done done.
And she could have only got that idea from you.
So I ask you again...
are we working on us or not?
We tried this, Jenny.
We just end up wanting to kill each other.
Well.
I certainly want to kill you now.
Long day?
Oh, big wreck on the I-90.
My, my, my, my.
I kept your dinner warm.
Thanks.
Mmm.
I, uh, rescued a stranded motorist.
Had one of those Teslas.
Stuck in mud. Might still be there if I hadn't come along.
Mm.
It's a good feeling, Mother, to make a positive impact
in a person's life.
I told him, "Stop spinning your wheels.
Make love to Mother Earth, easy-peasy."
And he easy-peasied that car right out of there.
He did.
I don't like it when you call me "Mother."
I'm your wife.
It's a figure of speech, Merrilee.
You raised our children.
They're grown now. They're gone.
It's just you and me, Rick. Husband and wife.
You need to touch me more.
Like a husband touches a wife.
Maybe like a Tesla, easy-peasies Mother Earth.
This is the menopause talking. I thought we agreed
we'd have no more menopause talk at the supper table.
Did you actually just say that to me?
Merrilee, I've had a very long day.
I know the feeling.
So, how long should we just sit here?
Since you're such the expert.
Until it cools. Then we can check the radiator.
Why can't we just check it now?
Because it'll blow up in our faces.
Look, we just have to wait it out.
We still have power. All the electrical is working.
You're gonna flood it. Don't.
God, we could be out here all night,
and we can't even text anybody.
Okay, somebody will eventually come along.
We won't be the only ones traveling this road,
especially since the I-90's shut down.
Maybe we could walk back to that campsite.
It was only a few miles back.
At night? There are bears around here.
Great. What do you suggest we do?
We wait in the car.
Somebody's bound to come along.
Grace. Look.
Look.
I told you! See?
It's a truck.
We're fine.
Danielle, it's that truck.
Okay, look.
No, i-if it is him, I'll just apologize and say...
Lock the doors.
Okay.
- Okay. - I can't believe this.
No, um...
You know what? Maybe he'll help us, okay?
I mean, everybody gets angry on the road,
but that doesn't mean...
Look at me. What did Dad always used to tell us?
"Never underestimate people's capacity to be good."
Danny!
- Hello? - Dad?
Justin?
Is Mom still with you?
She is, yeah. We're here talking.
Everything okay?
No. Uh, I think I have a problem.
What's going on?
Danielle... she and her sister never showed.
- What? - Let me talk to him.
Honey?
They were supposed to be here long ago.
They're not answering their texts or calls.
And now their mother is calling me.
I mean, could she have run out of gas?
With that girl, anything's possible.
I heard that.
Something is not right.
- _ - I have a bad feeling about this.
Danny? Danny?!
Hey. Danny?
Danny. Come on.
Y-You're going out there now?
Those roads are so remote,
and not a lot of people travel through Yellowstone
this time of night.
I'm gonna need you to go into the office.
Uh, Denise is already there.
Speaking of which.
Hold on a sec. I got her calling.
Hey.
Hey, so, I checked with State Dispatch
and NPS Emergency,
and there are no reports of any accidents
involving a car with that description.
Alright, see if the police can put out an alert.
Will do. I also called a State Trooper
that I know is stationed between Livingston and Gardiner.
He used to be married to my cousin Sally.
You met her once.
Anyway, his name is Rick Legarski.
I left a message on his voicemail
and gave him your cell number.
Alright. Thanks, Denise.
Uh, start checking the local hospitals.
I'm driving out there.
You mind manning the office in case I need you?
I don't mind.
- Maybe I should go with you. - No.
Go be with Justin. And call me if they show up.
Cody?
That was really nice.
Danny? Hey.
Come on. Danny?
You're okay. You're okay.
You're okay.
What happened?
- We just got kidnapped. - What?!
Come on. Okay.
By that trucker?
Yeah. He... He hit us with a Taser or something.
You have your phone?
No. He took our phones.
He took our phones.
I think there's somebody else in here.
What?
I think it's a dead person.
It's a woman.
- Is she dead? - I don't know.
Don't touch it!
Come on. Come on.
Hello?
- Cody Hoyt? - Speaking.
This is Trooper Rick Legarski of the Montana Highway Patrol.
I got your number from Denise Brisbane in Helena.
Thanks for calling me.
Says you're a private detective
looking for a couple of missing teenagers.
That's right.
Uh, last seen in a red Ford Focus, Colorado plates.
Somewhere in Yankee Jim Canyon.
Well, I haven't been down that road tonight.
So, we're running down the usual possibilities.
Breakdown, accident,
cellphone outage, wrong turn somewhere.
They might be broken down in Yankee Jim Canyon
somewhere where the cell service is bad.
You want me to drive down there, have a look?
Would you mind?
A Montana state trooper's always on call.
Well, I really appreciate it.
Um, I'm en route myself.
If they do check in and we hear anything,
I'll be sure to give you a call.
Okay.
Um...
Listen.
One other thing.
What?
Um...
How do I say this?
Um...
This isn't the first.
What do you mean?
I'm gonna send you a link.
We've had the occasional young female vanish around here.
Where are you going?
Some teenagers have gone missing out on Yankee Jim.
It's 2:30 in the morning.
Merrilee...
You're not the only state trooper, Rick.
People could be in real danger out there.
Somebody's always in danger somewhere.
This here? It could be my number getting called finally.
Why are you looking at me like that?
A person only gets one life.
I only get one life.
I'm not sure this is it.
I'm not sure what you're talking about.
Here's a hot flash for you, Rick.
This isn't working for me.
Teenage girls missing.
What would you have me do?
I'm pulling up the link you got from the state trooper.
Church of Glory and Transcendence.
Yeah, here it is. Got it.
Rumors about it being a cult.
I didn't know it was in that area.
A lot of articles.
_
Listen. Remember those missing prostitutes from the truck stops?
Nothing ever came of that.
Well, they never really investigated it, from what I'm told.
These girls have been passing truck stops, right?
Maybe you should call Jenny.
I think she worked on that some when she was a cop.
Just walked in. Call you back.
So, I'm striking out with hospitals,
which I guess is a good thing.
Cody said you worked on those cases
with the missing prostitutes?
I'll need the computer.
Uh...
Think you could not push me, Jenny?
Do you want me to help or not?
Maybe you could help without pushing me?
Maybe you both could act your age?
It's possible they pulled into a truck stop to get food or gas.
Maybe they were grabbed.
Prostitutes were climbing into the cabs.
Nobody was ever seen being grabbed.
Well, they wouldn't be climbing into the truck.
Let's check the VICAP base.
VICAP. We don't have access to that.
I do.
_
- Aah! - No, no, no, no, no, no, no, please!
Aaaaaah!
Please! Please let us go!
Please!
I unwrapped your little package.
She's dead.
- Please. - What did you do?
We didn't do anything.
Please.
We won't say anything.
- I promise. - Get against the wall.
- No, please... - I said get against the wall!
- Shut up! Get against the wall! - Okay!
Okay!
Aah!
No! No!
No!
Aaaaah!
No, no, no! Please!
No! Stop!
Hello?
Danny?
Grace.
Where are we?
How did he get you?
He got me at a truck stop.
What do you think he plans to do with us?
Cody?
Rick Legarski, Montana Highway Patrol.
I really appreciate this.
C'mon in.
This place shut down 'cause of the pandemic.
I know the owner. He gives me the keys.
I keep an eye on it.
If it ever reopens, he says he'll give me a piece of it.
Eh, we'll see.
Did you see anything on your trip down?
No. You?
No.
Look, before we get started, a few ground rules.
This is delicate, but...
... I live here, and I know everybody.
I'm involved in civic organizations,
like Kiwanis, Lions' Club.
- I see folks from this valley every day. - Yeah.
I can't let it get out
that I got a hate-on for any of them.
Whatever you tell me stays with me.
Uh-huh.
I've heard a few things.
Like what?
That you can be renegade.
Fired from three different departments,
which is why you're working private.
- All in the past. - Uh-huh.
Well, I have a couple of years
before I retire with full benefits.
Got it.
Sorry. My ex.
Say no more. Woman problems.
A man's got a woman. Then he got problems.
You familiar with VICAP?
FBI?
It's the Violent Crimes Apprehension Program.
Basically a database for missing persons.
I've heard about it. Never used it.
They show 12 missing females
within a 100-mile radius of where we're sitting.
All in the last two years.
Most of them last seen at truck stops.
We got a few truck stops along the way.
This church, uh...
the membership include long-haul truckers?
There's a faction of truckers mixed up in sex trafficking.
Really?
Well, how do you feel about driving up there?
To the church? Now?
You got kids, Rick?
Say no more.
You are gonna cost me my pension. I'm sure of it.
I promise to behave.
Let's take my truck. Cops cars tend to spook.
That, they do.
I hope you got a good chassis,
'cause we'll be covering some bumpy territory.
Man, you get good reception.
Hey. We're headed to the church.
- Now? - It's a long shot, but I'm out here.
I got this state trooper with me. He knows the area.
Even so, Cody...
I'll call you when I learn more, okay?
- Let's go. - It's about a half-hour or so.
You need to pee or anything before we go?
I'm good.
And, uh, just to review.
The likelihood is, we're gonna come across people I know...
good people... so we are gonna keep our manners in play.
I promise.
If I may ask, where'd you hear that
about long-haul truckers being tied to slave trade?
'Cause I sure as Shirley never heard that.
Nothing official. Just cop-to-ex-cop grapevine.
That's the problem with being a state trooper.
Nobody talks to us.
Oh, one other thing.
Ronald.
You've been sloppy.
My, my, my.
- Synced & corrected by MementMori - -- www.addic7ed.com --