What Happened to the Bennetts

Jason is in the back of a van with a black hood over his head and his hands tied behind his back. His gun is still in the Civic’s glove box. Jason had sent Big George a note, asking him to call. Now he is presumably on his way to talk with him. As he waits, Jason thinks about Allison and the Great Blue Heron.

They arrive and Jason is escorted, still blindfolded, with a gun to his back. When the hood is pulled from his head, Jason sees that they are near a cabin in the woods, and Big George is charging at him. With Jason unable to defend himself, Big George punches and kicks him repeatedly. Jason tries to convince Big George that he didn’t kill Junior, but Big George is too angry to listen. Finally, Big George begins coughing. He coughs blood.

As Big George recovers, Jason tells him that Milo is an FBI informant. Big George asks Jason if his family is in witness protection, and Jason admits that they are and says he wants to get them out. He tells Big George that Milo killed Nerone and that Nerone killed Hart on Milo’s order. Big George is surprised by the mention of Hart. He also does not know anything about an SUV chasing Jason through a cornfield. Jason tells Big George that Milo killed Contessa because she could prove he was an informant, but Big George says that something else is going on. Big George already knows Milo is an informant because it was Big George’s idea. But now Big George knows that Milo is double-crossing him. Big George is about to kill Jason, but Jason offers to help him.

Jason cleans himself up in Big George’s cabin. He is bruised and sore from the fight. Big George pours them whiskeys, and they talk at the table. They exchange witticisms, and Jason makes Big George laugh despite the dark subject matter. Big George has nothing left. His family is dead, and he has a month left due to pancreatic cancer.

Big George practically raised Milo and even told Milo about his cancer before his son. He explains that he handed over the day-to-day business of GVO to Milo and Junior a month ago because his days are spent vomiting and going to doctors’ offices. Thus, Big George had nothing to do with the carjacking. He agrees with some of Jason’s theories, that the double homicide was a misdirection and that Milo would sometimes do Hart’s dirty work. But Big George does not think Hart wanted to have Jason killed because of his wife. Hart loved only money and power. Likely, Hart started an affair with Lucinda to get to Jason for a different reason.

Jason learns that Hart was very close with Senator Ricks. They knew each other in school, and Hart was invested in Ricks’s career. Big George tells Jason that he once overheard something about Ricks and the CIA, and after Jason mentions that he was in Guantanamo Bay, Big George thinks that Hart must have sent Milo to kill him because of something related to Cuba. Jason does not know what that could be. He has some files from his time there, but it is declassified material. Big George lets Jason go.

Jason is back in the van, tied up with a hood over his head. During the ride, he thinks about his time in Guantanamo Bay. He remembers that many high-profile detainees were held at the prison after September 11. The big case was Al Qahtani, a Saudi electrical engineer who trained with Al Qaeda. He remembers being there with Sam Newman and Rowena Boulton-Ramirez, two other court reporters who since passed away.

Jason convinces the drivers to untie him and let him borrow a phone to do research because Big George smashed his phone at the cabin. He logs into his cloud account and discovers that his documents related to his time at Gitmo have been erased. His other files are still there. He guesses the CIA is involved.

He googles Senator Ricks and Gitmo and finds that Ricks was once accused of being involved in the torture and murder of one of the detainees, Rohan Doha, who turned out to be innocent. Doha was beaten in shackles until he lost consciousness and eventually died of a blood clot. The incident happened in November 2003, when Ricks was serving as a military interrogator there. Ricks beat the accusations because he claimed to be in the infirmary for dehydration and the flu, and two other interrogators, William Diebold and Martin Tornott, signed affidavits corroborating his story. They served time for dereliction of duty, and now Ricks was eyeing a presidential run.

Jason remembers being in Guantanamo Bay in November 2003. Sam and Rowena had taken him on a booze cruise to celebrate his birthday. There was a picture of the three of them, but the picture was deleted with the rest of his Gitmo files. Then Jason remembers that he put a copy of the photo in his personal files too. He logs back into his cloud account and finds the photo. He, Sam, and Rowena are on a boat toasting with champagne. Behind them are military escorts.

One of the military escorts is Ricks. It is the day that Doha was killed, the day that Ricks claimed to have been sick in the infirmary. The photo is evidence that Ricks lied. It is likely the reason that all this is happening. Ricks must have sent Hart to determine whether Jason remembered anything about his time in Cuba. Jason realizes that the CIA might be after him and that the SUV that chased him into the cornfield probably belongs to the CIA. He realizes the only thing keeping the Bennetts safe now is that Milo is still alive.

Jason drives to the Delaware safehouse. He plans to tell Dom everything. He wonders whether Lucinda will ever forgive him for being the reason that Allison died. But when he reaches the house, only Wiki is there. Wiki tells him that Milo has Lucinda, Ethan, and Dom. He offers to take Jason to the FBI officers working on their release. Without thinking, Jason hops into Wiki’s Tahoe, and they drive off.

As they drive, Jason aggressively questions Wiki about what happened. He tells Wiki that he knows Milo is an FBI informant and that he is working for Ricks. This surprises Wiki who says Milo is negotiating for immunity and money. Wiki tells Jason that Lucinda sent him to the fish market for dinner and when he got back, everyone was gone. There were overturned chairs but no blood. Jason gets impatient with how little information Wiki is providing, especially when Jason asks what happened to Moonie. Wiki’s answers start to contradict his story, and Jason doubts that Wiki is taking him to the FBI. Jason pretends to calm down but then suddenly pulls the steering wheel, sending the Tahoe off the road.

As the car tumbles, Jason grabs Wiki’s gun. During the struggle, Jason shoots Wiki in the leg and, after a brief struggle underwater, knocks him out. Jason drags Wiki to safety, takes his phone, then questions him. Wiki admits that he is working for Milo. Jason learns that Dom escaped with Lucinda and Ethan before Milo could get them. Jason takes the Tahoe and leaves Wiki stranded on the road.

Jason breaks Wiki’s phone and drives back in the other direction. He thinks about how he’s going to find his family. He expects that Dom would have gotten rid of their phones, too, and that they would also avoid the FBI. He remembers, from one of his runs with Dom, that Dom is from West Philadelphia and loved working at his Uncle Tig’s check-cashing agency. He also remembers Dom telling him where the agency is: Gibbons and Masterman. Jason decides to drive to Philadelphia.

Something is stopping traffic ahead, so Jason turns on the radio. He discovers that the FBI set up a roadblock for him. Wiki is dead, presumably killed by Milo, and Jason is being framed for the murder. He leaves his car and looks for another way through.

Jason spots a truck with “Collins Consolidated” across the side. He asks for a ride. The driver, a woman named Flossie Bergstrom, doesn’t trust Jason at first due to his appearance, but Jason namedrops Jaybird and talks about his experience at the diner with other Collins Consolidated drivers. Flossy lets him in. She has three chihuahuas, including one named Jack with one eye. Jason gets along well with the dogs, which charms Flossy. She agrees to hide him when they pass the police checkpoint.

Flossie talks her way through the checkpoint. The trooper hands her a flyer about Jason, and Flossie later notes how different Jason used to look. The flyer asks anyone to call the police if they see someone matching Jason’s description, and Jason laments that he has been reduced to the criminal “Caucasian male” (387). Flossie believes Jason when he says he is innocent because she and her dogs are good judges of character. She tells him about her late husband, and they bond over their grief and their love of dogs. Flossie lets Jason borrow her phone, and Jason tries to find the check-cashing agency. He can’t find it. He calls Dom’s wife at work, but she is out sick. He hands Flossie back the phone.

Flossie drops Jason off in West Philadelphia. It is dark now, and Jason walks to the intersection of Gibbons and Masterman. He cannot find a check-cashing agency, so he begins knocking on doors and asking people if they remember the place. He gets lucky with the 19th door. An older Black woman named Mary Ward says she remembers the place. She even remembers Tig and Dom, and she calls one of Tig’s closest friends on Jason’s behalf. Mary invites Jason in while they wait, and Jason gives his name as John Flossie. Soon, an older Black man named Leonard Richardson shows up. Richardson pulls a gun on Jason and tells him to get on his knees.

Richardson tells Mary Jason’s real name and that he is wanted for the murder of an FBI agent. He pulls up the news story on Mary’s computer. Jason tries to explain himself, but Richardson shuts down all his attempts to clear his name. Jason says Dom is an FBI agent protecting Jason’s family. Eventually, Richardson agrees to call Tig. Soon after, another man, Skeet, arrives to drive Jason and Richardson to where Dom is hiding. Skeet and Richardson explain that they, with Tig, are old friends who were in Vietnam together. They call themselves the Three Musketeers.

They arrive at a dilapidated brick rowhouse on a mostly abandoned block. Tig is there, and he tells Jason to go downstairs. Jason hurries down to a musty cellar with a makeshift kitchen. He sees Lucinda, Ethan, and Dom, and he hugs each of them. They exclaim at his shaved head and bruised face. Jason then hugs Tig and thanks Dom profusely for his help. Jason asks about Dom’s family. Dom says they are safe.

Dom heard about Wiki, and he tells Jason that he didn’t know the FBI was running Milo. Jason asks what happened at the house, and Dom explains that Wiki called him from the fish market acting suspiciously. Dom got a feeling that Wiki was trying to distract him from the cameras, so he checked and saw Milo’s people approaching. He followed procedure and got them to safety. Unfortunately, Moonie ran away during the action.

Jason says they need to get out of there and that he has a plan. Dom says he has a plan too. Tig, Skeet, and Richardson say they will help. Jason insists that they act tonight. Dom is taken aback by Jason’s newfound confidence and determination. He says he likes the new Jason. Jason says he does, too, but Lucinda watches him without smiling.