The Return of Ellie Black

The next day, Ellie visits Sam, Valerie, and Mia. After a while, Sam and Valerie get in the car to go out, and Ellie helps them with Mia. Ellie apologizes to Sam for stealing her ID to get into the motel party. Ellie tells Sam that she is going to see Danny.

Chelsey arrives at the Blacks’ house, but Kat tells her that Ellie went to see Sam. Ellie is not answering her phone, so Kat calls Sam, who tells her that Ellie said that she was going to visit Danny. When Kat calls Danny, he tells her that he has not seen Ellie and that they did not have plans that day. Sam then calls back and tells them that she remembers that Ellie had a backpack in her car. Chelsey goes through Ellie’s room looking for evidence of where Ellie went. In the crawlspace, Chelsey finds postcards with numbers on them. Jimmy recognizes the postcards and goes to get the one he found under his windshield. Chelsey pulls out a package from the crawlspace that contains residual gunpowder and a pipe. Chelsey realizes that Ellie was making a pipe bomb. Jimmy hands Chelsey the postcard he found, and Chelsey says that she thinks that the postcards are a countdown.

One day in the winter, Charity notices that the door to the armory is open. Ellie warns her to be careful, but Charity says that it is their only chance. Willa stays in the bunker while Ellie and Charity run to the armory. Charity grabs a gun and tells Ellie that she is going to kill David. Suddenly, David stands in the doorway, and he tells Charity to put the gun down. He then tells Ellie to take the gun from Charity or he will kill Grace. Ellie looks over at the bunker, where Michael stands with his hands around Grace’s throat. Ellie rushes Charity, and the gun falls to the ground. David punches Charity repeatedly in the face. Ellie looks away from Charity, who she believes is dead. David tells Ellie he is proud of her because it was all a test. Ellie sees that Grace is sitting with Star, completely safe. David picks up Charity’s gun and shows her that there are no bullets in it. When Ellie cries, David slaps her and then hugs and soothes her. He tells Ellie that he loves her, and Ellie says that she loves him even though she feels like screaming.

Chelsey calls Cerise and tells her that Ellie is missing. Chelsey believes that Ellie has been reluctant to help the investigation because her kidnapper is watching her and in fact released her himself. She asks Cerise to tell her anything about Ellie that she can. Cerise tells Chelsey that Ellie drew a picture of three girls she called her sisters. Chelsey thanks Cerise and hangs up. She realizes that Ellie must be doing something to protect Willa and decides that she must find Ellie before she gets hurt.

David watches as Ellie builds her first pipe bomb on her own. Ellie works tirelessly connecting the wires as David tells her to set the timer for two hours later.

Chelsey drives to the station, and her spirits sink when she sees the news: A bomb was intercepted at the governor’s house, and the perpetrator is Ellie Black, who is on the run. Abbott tells Chelsey that Homeland Security is taking over the case and will need her files. Chelsey tells Abbott that she believes that Ellie is acting under duress because her kidnapper is holding Willa hostage. She says that Ellie is a victim as well, but Abbott does not listen to her, telling her he needs to go home to be with his children given that their mother was almost murdered. Chelsey gets into her car with her last file containing pictures of the missing girls. She knows that she must find Ellie.

Chelsey arrives at her parents’ old house. She searches through her files and a map of the area, hoping to find a clue to where Ellie has gone. Chelsey thinks that Ellie may have gone through the Olympic National Forest. Noah walks in but stops when he sees the stacks of case files. He asks her why the house is not packed and why she is not answering his calls. Chelsey shows Noah her files and tells him that she thinks that Ellie’s captor is an experienced kidnapper who returned her for a reason. Noah tells her that she cannot obsess over every case just because her father did. Chelsey says that her feelings have nothing to do with her father, but Noah retorts that Chelsey’s father took her hunting rather than allow her to grieve. Chelsey does not believe him, but Noah says she must choose between the case and him. Chelsey chooses the case because she knows that she will never be able to let it go, so Noah leaves. Afterward, Danny calls Chelsey. He tells her that he knows Ellie is not responsible for what is happening and explains how he turned on the Find My Friends app. He tells her he knows Ellie’s exact location.

David and Ellie walk through the forest with the pipe bomb in Ellie’s bag. Ellie lays the bag at the base of a tree and then joins David a safe distance away. The bag suddenly explodes, and the area of trees erupts in flames. Afterward, in David’s room, he gives Ellie a newspaper about Governor Pike and tells her that he wants her dead. Ellie says that she does not want to kill her, but David tells her that he will drown Grace if she refuses. However, if she bombs the governor’s office, he will let Grace go free. Ellie tells him that she will do it for Grace.

Danny guides Chelsey with his phone while she drives into the Olympic National Forest. They stop for gas, and Danny tells Chelsey that he lost Ellie’s signal. Chelsey gets out her map, and they discuss where Ellie could be. Chelsey asks why the governor would be targeted. She tells Danny that her boss is the governor’s ex-husband: She changed her name from Destiny Abbott to Regina Pike. Danny tells Chelsey that Ellie said that whoever kept her captive called her Destiny. Chelsey tells Danny to search for information about Abbott and his sons, Doug and West. Chelsey finds that Doug has a blue station wagon registered to him. Danny says that a Sunshine LLC that includes a farm co-op and a kennel is registered under West’s name. Chelsey finds that the kennel is on a property in the Olympic National Forest at a World War II bunker. She types the address in and sees that it is close to where Ellie’s signal vanished. Danny insists on coming with her to help Ellie.