The racial massacre incident triggered by the Dutton Ranch has drawn nationwide media attention. Kayce, frustrated by his inability to reveal the truth to Monica, was in a irritable mood. One morning, he attempted to use a tractor to uproot a tree stump outside their house. However, the stump remained firmly in place while the tractor flipped over completely. Enraged, Kayce ended up blowing up the stump with a gasoline canister, startling Monica, who was caught off guard. Their son Tate, who had been watching his father, was thrilled. In the crater left by the explosion, he unexpectedly discovered a complete dinosaur fossil, which he dug up and hid in the stable like a treasure.
Meanwhile, Jamie found himself in trouble. A coroner’s report landed on the governor’s desk, preliminarily concluding that Lee had been shot in the cervical spine and could not have returned fire. Moreover, the several gunshot wounds on Lon’s chest were arranged in a circular pattern, and the fatal wound was a gunshot to the head. This clearly indicated that his death was not the result of self-defense but an execution. The incident had already escalated, and the police needed someone to take the fall, giving Jamie only a week to resolve the matter.
Jamie initially sought advice from his shrewd sister, Beth. However, she adopted a detached attitude, and their conversation ended unpleasantly. Jamie then found his father at the fence. John had just finished taming a wild horse brought by Kayce and was watching his hand, Jimmy, riding it around.
The current situation looked unfavorable for Kayce. On the night of the incident, two officers had seen Kayce bringing Lee’s body back to the ranch but had refrained from identifying him out of courtesy. These officers were Tom Reynolds and Aaron McGarry. John knew Tom and was confident he could handle him, but the name Aaron was unfamiliar. Upon learning that Aaron was a devout Christian who attended church every weekend, John formulated a plan.
The coroner had already submitted the report to the tribal police overseeing Indian affairs, leaving John and Jamie with little time. However, Jamie uncovered a secret: the town’s coroner had previously worked in Chicago but was fired for using embalming fluid recreationally. Jamie believed that exposing this would force the coroner to resign, rendering his report inadmissible. John dismissed this underhanded tactic and instead sent Rip to resolve the matter the cowboy way.
Fortunately, Kayce’s actions of scattering the cattle that night temporarily diverted suspicion from him by Chief Thomas and the tribal police. John first attended a rodeo to watch his old friend Carl’s son, Toby, compete. But John’s true intentions lay elsewhere. Without much explanation, old Carl understood implicitly and assured John that his son, Officer Tom, would not cause trouble for the Dutton family.
With Tom handled, John visited a church he had long supported. The Dutton family had donated generously to this church, and it was time for Pastor Bob to return the favor. Over the weekend, during his sermon, Pastor Bob specifically discussed biblical passages about neighbors and family, subtly instilling in Aaron the idea of keeping secrets.
Having completed his part, John left the dirty work to Rip. Late one night, Rip broke into the morgue and caught the coroner soaking cigars in formaldehyde. After knocking out the coroner, Rip expertly staged a fire scene. With the original coroner’s report destroyed from the computer, John and Jamie had Lee’s coffin exhumed and cremated. Though the Bible says those who are cremated cannot be reborn, for the sake of the family, Lee had to endure this fate.
Kayce was well aware that his father would use any means to clear him of blame, which only deepened his guilt and made him feel too ashamed to face Monica. He decided to rejoin the Navy SEALs, even though he had been discharged for less than a year. Monica sensed her husband’s unusual behavior and vaguely connected it to the events of that night. While driving with Kayce to pick up their son from school, Monica tried to persuade Kayce to stay. But before she could speak, an explosion occurred by the roadside, nearly hitting their car.
Kayce quickly pulled over and got out to assess the situation. The explosion had come from a roadside shack, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of chemicals—clearly a secret drug lab. A few dozen meters away lay a severely burned man who, despite his condition, was worried about his family inside the shack. Kayce glanced at the explosion site and knew the man’s family could not have survived. The injured man begged for a quick death, as his burns were agonizing, and he was unlikely to hold on until an ambulance arrived. Monica silently nodded, agreeing with her husband’s decision.
Kayce shot the dying drug manufacturer. When Chief Thomas and the tribal police arrived, they even thanked him for his act of mercy. Since the incident occurred on the reservation, Thomas did not want word of the drug operation to spread and instructed the tribal police to drop the matter. The sheriff even exchanged the slide of his pistol with Kayce’s, taking responsibility for the killing.
The dying drug manufacturer’s concern for his family moved Monica. She pleaded with Kayce to stay home with Tate, expressing her willingness to forgive Kayce for anything he had done. But Kayce knew all too well that this was impossible.