Brad Cummings drives Tress back home after their date and invites her out the next night. She tells him that she won't be able to, and Will comes out and Tressa invites Brad in for dinner the next night. Before he leaves, Brad asks Will to check his car and Will says that he will the next night. Once he goes inside, Brad starts to kiss Tressa but she says that she's not looking for an involvement. He settles for a peck on the cheek and leaves.
Inside, Will asks Tressa why she doesn't give Brad a chance. She says that she doesn't know Brad, and she doesn't trust him. Brad lied to him about where she grew up.
At a gas station approaching Houma, a man Kurt gets his car filled up. When the attendant, Steve, asks for payment, Kurt casually shoots him in the chest and drives off.
The next night, Will is making spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Brad compliments Will on it, and Will excuses himself. Once they're alone, Brad asks Tressa why she's giving him the straight arm. She claims that she just wants to be friends, and Brad says that they don't know if they want to be friends. He asks Tressa to trust him, and she asks him to call Will in for dinner.
Will is playing his guitar on the pouch. Brad joins him and asks him if Tressa has anyone else. Will says that she doesn't and advises Brad to give her some time. When he wonders why Brad would settle in Houma, Brad says that his business runs himself and he likes the small town. Will brings up that Brad says that he lives on the northeast side of Chicago when it doesn't have one, and Brad claims that he meant the northwest side.
Tressa calls Brad to the phone. It's a woman, and she says that Kurt was there a couple of days ago and forced her to tell him where Brad was. She tells Brad that he has to leave. Brad hangs up and his right arm starts twitching. Tressa and Will come over and he says that his arm is an old injury that acts up. He takes out some pills, and Tressa sees his wallet and secretly picks it up. Brad excuses himself, and Tressa tells Will that according to Brad's driver's license, his last name is Hewett, not Cummings. Will suggests that she give him a chance to explain himself, but Tressa figures that Brad has bene lying to him. In the shadows, Swamp thing listens to the exchange.
Kurt approaches a flower vendor and says that the hotel clerk said that Brad buys a lot of flowers from her. The vendor says that Brad buys them for Tressa, and Kurt asks where he can find her so that he can catch up to Brad. The woman draws him a map, while Brad comes up behind them and sees Kurt. He hastily turns around and leaves.
Later, Kurt drives up to the Kipp house and barges into the house. When Will comes up, Kurt draws a gun on him and demands to know where Brad is. Will says that Brad left twenty minutes ago, and Kurt tells him to tell Brad that he'll let Tressa go when they're face-to-face. He then leaves with Tressa, firing a shot at Will to keep him back. Swamp Thing tells Will that there's nothing he could do, and he couldn't stop them without endangering Tressa. He asks where Brad is, and figures that Brad is on the run.
The radiator on Brad's car overheats and he's forced to pull over.
Will and Swamp Thing cut through the swamp, and Swamp Thing sets up a barricade of logs to bock the only route that Kurt could take. He then summons a storm and Kurt comes to the barricade. Swamp Thing controls plants to swamp the car engine, stalling it. Kurt orders Tressa out and they start walking. They come to an old hotel and Kurt goes in to use the phone. Inside, Brad steps out and Kurt greets his little brother.
Brad tells Kurt to kill him, but Kurt says that he wants to see him crawl after everything Brad has done to him... and he wants Tressa to see it.
Swamp Thing and Will wait outside, and Swamp Thing says that things have come together nicely but they have to wait a little longer for the right time.
Kurt tells Brad that it's been eight years, and Bard tells him that it was for his own good. He says that he warned the police that Kurt was going to rob a payroll, and would have killed someone. Brad couldn't stop him so he had the police do it. Kurt complains that Brad was always the pride and joy of the family, and he came because of Mary. He says that Mary was killed because of Brad. Kurt stole a car and Brad tried to stop him, and that's when his arm was injured. The cops spotted them, but Brad encouraged him to keep driving to impress Mary. Kurt lost control, and Mary was killed when the car crashed. He insists that they loved each other but Brad took her away from him.
Swamp Thing concentrates.
Kurt tells Brad that he's going to suffer the way that he did, and he'll never make it in prison. He tells his brother that he's going to kill Tressa.
Swamp Thing summons a storm and says that it's time.
Kurt ties Brad and Tressa up, then straps the gun to the arm of the chair Brad is sitting in. He tosses away Brad's pills and says that his arm got nerve damage. Kurt explains that when Brad's arm shakes, he'll trigger the gun and shoot Tressa.
Swamp Thing tells Will that he's doing something that will require all of his and the swamp's power. He says that he'll give Will time to rescue Tressa.
Kurt looks up and says that he's been talking to Mary, and then tells Brad that they'll join her in the next world. Will bursts in and jumps in front of Tressa, pulling her out of the way just as Brad uncontrollably pulls the trigger. When Kurt prepares to shoot Will, Swamp Thing comes in and knocks Kurt out.
Later, Brad tells Tressa that he's going home. Tressa says that things between them could be different in the future and they hug. He says that he'll be back and drives off.
Written by Gadfly on Dec 31, 2017