A kid is running through the woods, and he hides from someone by putting branches and brush over himself.

Reenie meets her friend, Erika, outside Shelter Stone Academy. Her son, Noah, missed their weekly call, and Erika is afraid he ran away from school.

Colter arrives to help Erika find Noah. Erika tells him Colter had substance abuse issues in the past and was sent to the school as a last resort.

They meet with the head of the school, Gilroy, who tells them the school has protocols in place and thinks Ray was looking for some space away. He also tells them Ray relapsed a few months earlier.

Gilroy gives them limited time on campus, and Colter meets with the head of security, Tom Ritter, who brings him a student, Johnny, who says he last saw Noah the night before outside the library.

In Noah's dorm room, Colter finds girls' items in his toiletries, and he goes back to Johnny to ask about Noah. Johnny then informs him that he actually saw Noah talking to maintenance man Zeke behind the maintenance sheds, where there are no cameras.

Colter brings this information to Gilroy and Ritter, who tell him Zeke never showed up for work. They also bring up camera footage, which shows Zeke leaving campus with a hidden Noah in the backseat.

Colter calls Bobby to get information on Zeke, and while his phone is offline, he sees that Zeke made several calls to someone named Lisa the night before.

Colter goes to Lisa's house and finds that the door was forcibly entered, and Lisa has various bruises on her body. She tells Colter that she was sort of dating Noah, and her ex-boyfriend, Ray, was the one who beat her up. She told him she no longer wanted to see him, and he lost it.

Lisa then called Noah, and he had Zeke sneak him off campus so he could confront Ray at the bar he worked at.

Colter goes to Ray's bar while Ritter looks at Ray's apartment. And at the bar, the doorman says he saw two guys confront Ray, and then Ray freaking and rode off after them after they left.

Velma and Teddi tell Colter about a cabin Ray owns in the woods, and while on the way, an injured man stumbles out of the woods. The man is revealed to be Zeke, who dies from a gunshot wound.

Colter follows tire tracks further into the woods and sees Zeke's overturned vehicle. He deduces Noah was able to escape into the woods.

Ritter arrives, having seen Colter's truck and Zeke's body, and the two follow boot prints and blood to track Noah. They split up when they hit a crossroads, and Colter soon finds Noah's bracelet.

Noah comes out of the woods and pulls a gun on Colter until Colter proves that he was sent to find him by his mother and knows Reenie.

Colter patches up Noah's leg wound while Noah tells him that Ray ran them off the road and shot Zeke. He then took Zeke's gun and has been hiding from him in the woods for the past day.

The two hear gunshots when they start to leave the woods and find that Ritter has been shot. Colter patches Ritter up and calls Bobby to send help for him, and then he and Noah continue out of the woods.

Noah takes a break to get water, and Ray finds them. After engaging in a standoff, Noah makes a run for it and Ray shoots at him before Colter gets the drop on him and knocks him unconscious.

The authorities arrive, and Noah is reunited with his mom and Lisa.

The following day, Colter tells Gilroy that he misjudged the school before Reenie pays him for his services and thanks him for his help.

Colter gives Noah something he found in the woods while tracking him as a way for him to remember what he accomplished before he hits the road for his next mission.