What Happened to the Bennetts

Jason drives to Junior’s funeral. He feels more secure once he leaves the marsh. He reaches the cemetery and drives past the row of cars that are parked for Junior’s burial. He notices that one of the cars is the BMW from the security video he saw on Dom’s laptop. He pretends to visit a different grave next to an elderly man visiting his wife’s grave. The old man tells Jason about his wife while Jason watches Junior’s funeral. He sees Big George and Hart, who is there with a young woman. The old man is still talking when attendees of Junior’s service begin walking back to their cars. He sees Hart enter a Mercedes and wonders if that was why Lucinda wanted him to buy a Mercedes. He then sees a man with a goatee enter the BMW. When Jason says goodbye to the old man, the old man replies “Don’t do it” and calls Jason by name. He yells that Jason will get himself killed, but Jason ignores him. He jumps into the Civic and follows the line of cars out of the cemetery.

Jason follows the funeral procession and wonders who the old man was. Then a black SUV begins following him. The SUV tailgates him, starts honking, and taps his bumper, forcing Jason to turn off onto a different road to avoid calling attention to himself. The SUV keeps following him, so Jason drives into a cornfield, but the SUV chases him into the field honking and ramming the back of the Civic. Finally, Jason manages to lose the SUV by making a dangerous sharp turn at a fork in the road.

Jason drives through Kennett Square looking for the funeral cars. He has been there many times before with his family. He remembers that Lucinda took Allison there for ice cream after away games. He finds the Colon Funeral Home and pulls into the parking lot. They are cleaning up. He guesses it was where Junior’s service was held. He sees the flower arrangements and pretends to be part of a courier service sent to grab the cards from the flowers. He takes the cards and another box of cards which turns out to have an invoice inside for Big George with his home address. Jason then drives to Big George’s house and parks across the street. It is a mansion covered in security cameras.

Later that day, Jason parks near the Colonial Towers office buildings in Center City. He knows that Hart is inside because he has been following Hart’s public schedule. Hart is attending a fundraiser for US Senator Mike Ricks. Jason plans to follow Hart until he meets Milo, then collect proof to give to Big George that Milo is double-crossing him. He knows that, if Milo is an informant, Hart is likely involved as his lawyer. Hart leaves the building, but before he reaches his car a dark BMW collides with him and kills him. As Jason drives by the scene, he hears someone call out his name.

Jason tries to follow the BMW, which he identifies as the same one from Dom’s video and the cemetery, but loses the car. He wonders why the GVO wanted Hart dead and reflects that he felt no joy seeing it happen. He realizes he forgot to ask Lucinda whether she loved him. Then he remembers that someone recognized him at the scene, so he decides to change the plan.

Jason goes to a convenience store and asks the cashier for an autobody shop that won’t ask questions. He senses that he is leaving the legal world behind and entering a criminal world. In the convenience store bathroom, he shaves his head and confronts himself in the mirror. He recognizes his father in his reflection and admits that he has been “playing it safe” his whole life (277). As he shaves, Jason feels like he is shedding that version of himself and becoming someone new.

Jason goes to Remy Whitman Towing & Autobody and asks for a black paint job. Remy also provides Jason with a new license plate and a gun.

While waiting in Remy’s office, Jason sees the news about Hart’s death on television. He does more research on his phone and discovers that Krieger posted again recently. Krieger saw Jason drive by the fundraiser. The post includes an audio interview with another bystander, David Fishman, a lawyer who knew Jason and called out his name. Fishman tells Krieger that he informed the police that he saw Jason.

Jason realizes that it wasn’t GVO who wanted Hart dead but Milo. Milo is covering his tracks by destroying evidence that he is an FBI informant. Jason studies the cards from the flowers at the funeral house. He notices that the card from Hart is also signed with his girlfriend’s name: Contessa. Jason looks up her contact information.

The next morning, Jason arrives at Contessa’s condo. Jason learned that Contessa was a paralegal working with Hart, and he guesses that she has a copy of Milo’s FBI cooperation agreement. He pretends to be on the phone with a resident to trick a passerby into letting him in the building. He knocks on the door of Contessa’s apartment, but there is no answer. The hallway outside the door is covered in flowers dropped off as gifts. A neighbor comes out, annoyed that people have been knocking on Contessa’s door all morning, and she asks Jason to help her move the flowers into Contessa’s apartment. But when she unlocks the door, they find Contessa hanging from the ceiling fan dead. Jason flees the scene.

Jason checks into the kind of motel that doesn’t ask for identification. He is shaken up after seeing Contessa because it triggers grief related to Allison’s death. He imagines her final moments. He guesses that Milo is responsible. Now the only loose ends left are the Bennetts. He examines his gun, an old revolver, and remembers shooting at cans growing up. He is determined to stop playing it safe, get justice for Allison, and free his family.

After watching Senator Ricks and Representative Barbara Caldwell give TV interviews about the death of Hart, Jason returns to examining the cards from the funeral. He figures that the size of the flower arrangements reflects the hierarchy of the GVO. He examines the cards from likely “retail level” members and, remembering that one of the flower arrangements was themed after the Philadelphia Phillies, realizes that the vertical mark on the BMW could be a Phillies logo. Using his access to court records, Jason connects the alias “North Philly Phil” to a real name, Phillip Nerone. He plans to drive around the areas where the GVO sells drugs, find Nerone, and use himself as bait.

Jason drives through run-down towns outside of Philadelphia where GVO members sell drugs on street corners. He notes that these towns are too far from the city to commute to but lack any large employers. They are dying and crime seems to be unchecked. Jason reflects that the justice system is broken. After a few hours of driving around, Jason spots Nerone. He drives up, pretending to be a customer, and tells Nerone who he is and that he needs to see Big George. They drive separately to a meeting place.

Jason hopes that Big George will come alone and without Milo. They drive to a composting plant that is closed for the night. Nerone parks, waves his gun, and demands Jason exit his car. Jason follows Nerone, leaving his gun in the glove box. They walk into the plant.

Big George doesn’t come at all. Milo arrives alone, which surprises Nerone and scares Jason. When Jason accuses Milo of being an FBI informant, Nerone and Milo turn on each other. Milo kills Nerone. Then someone shouts “Help!” and Jason uses the distraction to run. Milo shoots the person who cried out and chases after Jason. They reach their cars, and it becomes a car chase, but then Milo’s SUV collides with a minivan. A tractor-trailer pulls over. The driver exits the truck and exchanges gunfire with Milo as Jason escapes.

Jason performs breathing exercises to recover from the adrenaline. He feels guilty for putting events in motion which have led to people being killed, and his only consolation is that he will see it through to the end. He assumes that Milo will not be going back to Big George now. He also assumes that the FBI is probably back on his trail.