The third episode of Reacher's second season commences a decade earlier, where Langston oversees his henchmen brutally assaulting Franz. Langston threatens Franz, urging him to reveal his discoveries and who else is privy to them. He further warns Franz that his refusal to talk will not save his comrades in Atlantic City, Sanchez and Orozco, as he already has a lead on them. Amidst spitting blood, Franz refuses to utter a word, prompting Langston to shatter his legs and order his henchman to prepare Franz for the next phase.
Within a helicopter, Langston and his accomplice bind Franz tightly. Langston grants him a final opportunity to cooperate, but Franz merely laughs and taunts him, claiming, "I'm merely pondering what the big guy has planned for you." They promptly eject Franz from the aircraft, sending him plummeting. Langston turns to his accomplice, perplexed, asking, "Big guy? Who exactly did he refer to?"
Shifting back to the current timeline, Reacher enters a gun shop, demanding three burners and an arsenal of firearms. The assistant informs him of a seven-day waiting period or the alternative of acquiring a firearm directly. Reacher opts for the latter, avoiding bureaucratic hassles, and exits with his chosen weapons.
Inside the rented vehicle, O'Donnell complains about the Glock 17 Reacher procured for him. Though fond of his own Glock 17, Reacher reminds O'Donnell that they require a firearm that cannot be traced. As they devise a hiding spot, their plans are interrupted by the arrival of a police cruiser. Reacher dozes off, confident that he'll be arrested but expecting a delay. Russo appears and orders Reacher to exit the vehicle. He assigns Dixon and Neagley to investigate the New Age parking pass, while coercing O'Donnell to accompany him to the station as his legal representative, unbeknownst to them that he holds a law degree.
At New Age Technologies, Dixon and Neagley interview Marlo Burns, the director of operations. They inform her of three confirmed murders, a missing person named Swan, and a person of interest, Saropian, who was found with a parking pass issued by New Age. Marlo claims that with over a thousand employees, tracking the pass is impossible.
In a police interview room, Reacher and O'Donnell face Russo, who queries Reacher's presence. Russo claims they are hindering the investigation yet assures him that all parties seek justice for the murders. Russo finds it odd that members of the 110th frequently communicated with each other but never reached out to Reacher. Reacher clarifies that he lacks a phone, yet Russo remains skeptical. He interrogates Reacher about his knowledge of the 110th's demise, to which Reacher responds that Russo must offer something in return for any information shared.
Marlo Burns relentlessly traced the pass registered to Saropian and boldly declared that they had not employed him. Nonetheless, she handed Dixon and Neagley a resume file containing his address. In the stark interrogation room, Reacher fiercely accused Russo of corruption, to which he reacted vehemently, insisting his integrity was unimpeachable. Russo even disclosed that the police had a suspect in their sights.
In Franz's office, they stumbled upon a memory card, unscathed, harboring crucial information about a weapons broker named Mahmood. Sanchez and Orozco had uncovered details about him for Franz. Remarkably, the name "Mahmood" appeared on the same alias list they had uncovered on Franz's flash drive—A.M.! They realized the need to flag all aliases bearing the initials A.M., suspecting a connection to terrorism.
Dixon and Neagley scrutinized a sheet filled with random numbers, a fragment of their broader investigation. There were seven such sheets, and Dixon discerned that each sheet contained 26 or 27 numerical entries. When combined, they could all fit onto a single page, saving six additional sheets. All but one sheet held 26 entries; the odd one out had 27. The sheets represented months, with each day marked for six days a week. The numbers suggested that something was meant to occur 9, 10, 12, or 13 times a day for the past seven months. The frequency was promising in the first month but dwindled alarmingly by the seventh. What exactly were they counting? Neagley was perplexed by Dixon's deductions, yet she trusted her instincts. Nevertheless, the question lingered: What was truly unfolding?
A.M. had booked a flight from Denver to JFK, and they anticipated capturing him upon check-in. But A.M. was shrewd. Upon arriving at the airport, he sensed something amiss. He toppled a suitcase of a man he suspected of surveillance, only to find it empty, confirming his suspicions. He exited the airport and promptly informed Langston of his delay, assuring him that the deal would still be closed, albeit with a slight delay. A.M. inquired, "Have you ever brokered such a deal for the product being purchased?" Langston confirmed his inexperience and questioned how A.M. intended to enter New York without identification. A.M. assured him he would manage it.
Reacher contacted Saropian's neighbor, pretending to have found his wallet on the sidewalk and verifying his address. The group decided to investigate, but Reacher insisted on stopping by a hardware store first. Under Reacher's guidance, they arrived at Saropian's residence and hurled a pipe bomb into his hallway, igniting an explosion. One of the henchmen, who had been waiting to ambush them, emerged engulfed in flames. It was then they realized why they had detoured to the hardware store. As they entered the house, a gunfight erupted with the remaining henchmen. They eliminated all of them, with O'Donnell saving Dixon from a bullet-depleted standoff by shooting the assailant before he could harm her.
Reacher witnessed a car fleeing the scene and sprung into pursuit. However, he was unable to gain ground on the speeding vehicle. His ingenuity came to the fore when he stumbled upon a barbecue and hastily hurled it onto the approaching car, causing it to come to a grinding halt. Reacher quickly caught up, yanked a heavyset man out of the vehicle, and demanded, "Who sent you? Who do you work for? New Age?" After discovering the man's ID, which revealed his name as Bryan Collins, the man suffered a heart attack and perished before uttering a word to Reacher.
Reacher returned to Saropian's house, relaying the incident to the group and urging them to "make a swift exit." Back at the motel, Russo stormed in, enraged over Reacher's use of a pipe bomb in Suburban Queens. Revealing that they had been targeted by New Age, Reacher postulated two scenarios: either the hitmen had gone to New Age to scout a target, meaning the address they found could have been a ruse, or Saropian himself had gone there as a hired assassin, assigned to track down New Age. In either case, someone wanted them to investigate the address as a trap to eliminate them.
Russo admonished Reacher and the group, warning them to cease their rogue behavior. He also informed them that A.M. had failed to show up at the airport, yet the plan seemed to be proceeding as intended. They were obtaining a warrant to access New Age Technologies' headquarters. Russo instructed them to stay put until further instructions and handed Reacher a contact number. As Russo departed, leaving behind a stern warning against further "cowboy antics," Reacher rallied the group, declaring, "Let's saddle up, we've got plenty of cowboy antics to indulge in."
The episode culminated in Reacher and the group speeding off in a car, headed towards New Age Technologies' headquarters. Reacher instructed them to grab whatever they could in two minutes and not to wait for him if he was delayed. They all donned balaclavas and rammed the car through the barriers, ransacking New Age Technologies. They hastily loaded their haul into black sacks.
Before exiting, Reacher snatched a framed photograph of the New Age team from the wall. As sirens blared, Reacher was the last to emerge. They hurriedly departed, stopping briefly to incinerate their balaclavas. Reacher laid the picture he had retrieved at New Age on the car's hood. Their attention was drawn to Swan in the photograph, flanked by Langston and Marlo Burns. Reacher revealed, "He was working at New Age alongside the individuals who have been hellbent on eliminating us."
