Run Away
Genre: Thriller
Based on: Run Away by Harlan Coben
Developed by: Danny Brocklehurst
Cast: James Nesbitt (Simon Greene), Ellie de Lange (Paige Greene), Ruth Jones (Elena Ravenscroft), Minnie Driver (Ingrid Greene), Alfred Enoch (DS Isaac Fagbenle), Amy Gledhill (DC Ruby Todd), Lucian Msamati (Cornelius Faber), Jon Pointing (Ash), Adrian Greensmith (Sam Greene), Ellie Henry (Anya Greene), Tracy-Ann Oberman (Jessica Kinberg), Annette Badland (Lou), Ingrid Oliver (Yvonne Previdi), Marcus Fraser (Rocco), Maeve Courtier-Lilley (Dee Dee), Finty Williams (Enid Corval), Joe McGann (Wiley Corval), Sam Swainsbury (Professor Van De Beek)
Original release date: January 1, 2026 (Netflix)
Episode plot: As the police close in on the Shining Haven, missing pieces fall into place and hidden truths come to light – but some threaten to stay buried forever.
* * *
Run Away – S01E08 – It Stays with Us | Transcript
[Simon breathing heavily]
[sirens wailing]
[dramatic music playing]
[Simon grunts]
Can you get out a message to Detective Fagbenle?
I’ve got a lead on Paige.
[phone vibrates]
[Fagbenle] Message from PC Burrows.
He’s at the Marinduque Estate.
Simon Greene says Rocco told him about a sighting of his daughter one week ago.
She was getting a bus from Winport to Brackmere.
Shining Haven is only a few miles from a stop on that route.
The compound is known as Shining Haven.
The religion is called The Beacon of The Shining Truth or The Shining Truth.
[man] Armed police! Show me your hands!
Get on the ground right now!
[sirens wailing]
[tires screech]
[man shouting indistinctly]
[Fagbenle] Remember, all these members have chosen to live outside society.
They’re unpredictable. There could be weapons we don’t know about.
[man] Down on your knees!
Hands on your head! Show me your hands!
This woman, Paige Greene, is a vulnerable missing person.
But we also believe she has vital information in connection with the murder of Aaron Corval.
Keep a keen eye out.
She may look different and will likely have a new name given to her by the cult.
Our person of interest is Casper Vartage.
Break it down!
[Fagbenle] He is implicated in allegations of ongoing abuse at Shining Haven, the disappearance of a number of individuals, as well as the murders of Kevin Gano, Damien Gorsch, and Aaron Corval.
We’re here to help.
Don’t be scared.
No sign of escape.
All exit points, negative activity.
[man] Armed police!
Drop your weapons!
Drop your weapons! Stay down!
Stay on the ground!
Clear.
[police officers shouting indistinctly]
[man 1] Clear!
[man 2] No sign of the suspect.
[man on radio] No sign of Vartage.
All rooms clear.
He must’ve slipped out before we arrived, Boss.
[radio chirps] Received.
[sighs]
[distant thudding]
[door clatters, creaks]
[ominous music playing]
♪ ‘Cause I am ♪
♪ I am ♪
♪ A little wicked ♪
♪ Hands red ♪
♪ Hands red ♪
♪ Just like you said ♪
♪ I am ♪
♪ A little wicked ♪
[song fades out]
[suspenseful music playing]
[footsteps approaching]
Casper Vartage, I’m arresting you on suspicion of the murders of Kevin Gano, Damien Gorsch and Aaron Corval.
You do not have to say anything–
[Casper] Save me the spiel.
And I’ll save you the job of taking me in.
You don’t want the bother of taking me through the courts.
And I certainly don’t want a moment in one of your horrendous prisons.
I’m fucked anyway.
Cancer’s in my bones.
So, say you didn’t find me.
You know I can’t do that.
There’s no point arresting me, not after all this.
I was a god to these people for over 30 years.
And great men, they know when their time is done.
Stay where you are.
What’s your name?
Detective Sergeant–
What’s your fucking name?
Detective Sergeant Fagbenle.
[Casper laughs]
[sniffs]
I’ve had a great life.
I’ve lived as a king.
[Fagbenle] Okay. Okay.
Kings don’t die like paupers, Detective Fagbenle.
They don’t die in prison cells.
Okay! I’m putting my weapon down.
[Fagbenle grunting]
Backup!
Down here!
You don’t have to say anything, but it may harm your defense if you do not mention something which you later rely on in court.
Anything you do say may be given in evidence.
[woman 1] You won’t help me.
[woman 2] Where are you taking us?
[woman 3] What do you want?
What do you want from us?
[woman 4] I have every right to be here.
That’s everyone. No sign of Paige.
[Fagbenle] Received.
[indistinct chatter]
Has anybody seen this girl?
Could she be here somewhere?
Any information you have could save lives.
A new girl arrived the other week.
[ominous music playing]
But she’s in the container.
Container?
Just looks like storage.
They use it for solitary confinement.
[Todd] Hello? Police!
Is anyone in there?
Paige?
[metallic clanking]
We’re here to help you.
I’m coming in.
It’s all right. It’s okay. It’s okay.
It’s all right.
Can you tell me your name?
Eve.
Okay.
What’s your real name?
Your birth name?
Zara.
It’s okay, Zara. You’re safe now.
[knock on door]
[door opens]
I’m sorry we didn’t find Paige.
[weakly] Yeah, yeah.
[Fagbenle clears throat]
Aaron was born in the cult.
And along with many other boys, he was adopted illegally.
They’re all from the same father, Casper Vartage.
Recently, the half-brothers discovered each other.
They swore to keep their relationship secret until they found their birth father.
So, the cult, they, um…
They knew that the sons had found each other?
Vartage hired a hitman to kill his undivine sons so they couldn’t expose him.
Ashley Davis and his accomplice, Dee Dee Lahoy, the duo that tried to kill you and Cornelius.
[Simon] Hmm.
They’re both dead.
Okay.
We arrested Vartage and the eldest sons, who we think orchestrated the killings.
They’re all claiming complete innocence.
They have expensive lawyers, but don’t worry.
They won’t get away with this.
The woman who was on the walkway…
You seen her since?
No.
[dramatic music playing]
[door opens]
We haven’t found her yet.
If she comes to see you, you’ll tell me?
Of course.
Wh… Uh, what about Elena Ravenscroft?
Any sign of her?
No, but we found CCTV of her car being driven by the killers.
So we’re working on the assumption that she confronted them about the illegal adoptions, and they killed her.
Oh, God.
Elena.
[swallows] So, this couple killed Aaron?
All the evidence points to that.
I’m sorry for pursuing you.
Mmm.
I was wrong.
No, it’s… It’s okay.
Find Paige.
That’s all I’ve ever wanted from the start of this.
We’ll do our best.
Thank you.
[somber music playing]
[door opens, closes]
[Mother Adiona] I believe in The Shining Truth, Mr. Greene.
And I’ve been a servant of it for most of my adult life.
When I birthed a son, they told me he would be the next leader.
But when I birthed another, Casper said I’d have to let him go, even though it meant I’d never see him again.
Last year, I used a DNA website to try and find what became of him.
Nathan?
How do you know my name?
My son is called Nathan Braddrick.
He was raised by two schoolteachers in Aldport.
He graduated with honors, he’s married, he’s got three children, and, as far as one can tell, he’s a good man.
And that was enough.
He had good parents, and he was making a good life.
But then I found out their plan.
They paid to have all the younger half-brothers killed.
I didn’t want to hurt anyone, but I didn’t have a choice.
I couldn’t let them kill my son.
Thank you f… for saving my life.
And thank you for telling them she fell.
I have to go back now.
Back where? The…
The police are raiding the Shining Haven.
[spluttering] It’s finished.
[softly] Oh, no.
We will start over, build up again.
It’ll be different this time.
Um… [breathing heavily] My daughter, Paige… uh, was dating one of these sons.
She’s missing.
I heard.
[Simon breathing heavily]
Is she at the Shining Haven?
I don’t know.
There are many girls.
[“Anchor” by Novo Amor playing]
♪ Took the breath from my open mouth ♪
♪ Never known how it broke… ♪
[Rocco] Think about it.
Luther didn’t shoot you.
He shot your wife.
[gunshot]
Ingrid?
Ingrid!
Come on, you can do this. I’m here.
I’m here.
♪ On your summer glow ♪
♪ You went in search of someone else ♪
♪ And I… ♪
Excuse me, sir. Have you seen this girl?
No, no, no.
Sorry, mate.
Have you seen this girl anywhere?
[man] No. Sorry.
Excuse me, pal.
Have you seen this girl anywhere at all?
[man 2] No, I haven’t. Sorry.
♪ And I hear… ♪
Hi. Excuse me.
Have either of you seen this girl?
No.
♪ My dear, is it all we’ve ever been? ♪
♪ Caught the air in your woven mouth ♪
♪ Leave it all
I’ll be hearing how you went ♪
♪ In search of someone else ♪
♪ They taught the hand
That taut the bride ♪
♪ Both our eyes locked to the tide… ♪
It’s her.
Elena Ravenscroft.
♪ And I hear your ship is comin’ in ♪
♪ Your tears a sea for me to swim ♪
♪ And I hear… ♪
Hello?
[sighs heavily]
Thanks for letting me know.
[elevator button dings]
Hi.
[woman] Hi, Simon.
Hi.
♪ Anchor up to me, love ♪
♪ Anchor up to me, love ♪
♪ Anchor up to me, love ♪
♪ Oh ♪
♪ Anchor up to me… ♪
[Simon] Paige?
[Paige] Dad!
[Simon crying softly]
[Paige crying softly]
Dad, I’m so sorry.
No. No, no, no, no. No.
Where have you been? Come on.
No, Dad.
I can’t stay here.
What?
[song ends]
It’s been almost a month.
A month?
Clean.
Oh, Paige.
I’m not there yet.
Okay. [sniffs] I might never be.
But I promise I’m better than I was.
So, this whole time, you…
I didn’t know about any of this.
My counselor at rehab, she told me.
She read this article about Mum, and told me. I came straight here.
Yeah, of course.
I… I can’t stay.
[Simon sniffles]
I have to go back, Dad.
I have to finish the six weeks.
Yeah.
Even now, just being here, I can feel the pull.
It’s getting stronger.
Look… You’ll go back. I’ll take you.
It’s all because of me.
No, no. No. No, no.
No, Paige. No, don’t think that way.
Don’t carry that guilt.
It’s not your fault.
It is! It is!
It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault.
Do you want to tell me what happened?
When I found Aaron dead, I didn’t know what to do.
I thought the police would think that I’d killed him.
It was… awful seeing him, what they’d done to him.
But he was gone. Finally gone.
And part of me felt free, you know?
Then I ran and hid.
[Paige breathing shakily]
And then I went to rehab.
Which is incredible, but how did you know about it?
I’d been there before.
When?
Wait. So… [sighs] When… When you saw me at the park, remember?
Let go of me!
Paige, it’s Dad!
I’d been there before that.
Really? When? Because…
You didn’t look clean.
I’d started. I wanted to be.
But…
Somehow Aaron managed to track me down.
He got into the rehab.
He shot me up while I was asleep.
I went with him the next day.
I don’t understand.
How did you find out about the rehab center?
Mum took me.
She told me about this rehab that… she’d been in when she was younger, and she took me there.
Your mum was in rehab?
It really helped her, Dad.
But… why would she not tell me she was helping you?
[somber music playing]
I told her not to.
Why? Why would you not want me to know?
When I’d let you down, when I’d failed you before, your face, the look of disappointment.
I didn’t…
I didn’t want that to happen again.
I didn’t want to disappoint you.
I thought that maybe I’d do something stupid if… if I saw that face again.
Sweetheart.
I’m sorry.
No.
I’m sorry I made you feel like that.
Dad, um…
Do you want to go back?
Yes, please.
Okay.
[Paige] Can you pull over, please?
[Simon] Of course.
You okay?
You know, you’re doing the right thing.
I know.
Do you wanna take a minute?
[birds chirping]
Can I ask you something?
Did Aaron beat you a lot?
Only that one time.
Aaron had found out about his half-brothers.
We contacted Henry, and we were planning on meeting, but…
Aaron started to get jealous.
Changed his mind.
We got into this big argument, and I went to stay with Sam at university.
Are you okay?
Yeah.
So you ran away.
And according to the police, that hitman and his girlfriend killed him.
I guess.
[somber music playing]
The only trouble is… that day that they shot at me and Cornelius, they hadn’t followed us there.
They were at the estate already.
Right.
The police are saying it was because they wanted to revisit the crime scene.
Right.
But I don’t think they’d ever been there before.
[music darkens]
Paige, what happened after Aaron beat you up?
I told you, I ran.
What happened?
Dad, please just let this go.
Not until we tell each other the truth.
And Paige, the truth stays right here.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
I knew that if I could just stop using, I could be free. If only Aaron wasDead.
Cornelius saw you the night Aaron was killed.
He found the knife.
I killed Aaron…
[dramatic musical sting]
…and ran.
[panting]
You’re my daughter.
I’ll always protect you, no matter what.
But you didn’t kill Aaron.
Did you go to your mum for help again after he beat you up?
Dad, please just let this go.
Did you go to Mum?
[Paige sniffs]
Paige?
Yes.
She told me to go back to rehab, and… that was my plan.
Then I went back to the flat the next day, and…
I found him.
Dead.
And I ran.
Where did you go?
They say you have to hit rock bottom before you get better.
I went to Aaron’s caravan.
I got high.
Slept for days.
When I woke up, I…
I knew the truth.
What truth?
Mum killed Aaron.
[dramatic musical sting]
[Simon inhales shakily] Mum killed Aaron.
Dad, you can’t tell Mum that we know.
She did that to protect me.
And I have to live with that.
It stays with us.
[music fades out]
[birds chirping]
It’s okay.
[“Into Dust” by Mazzy Star playing]
[Simon] Let’s go.
♪ Still falling ♪
[no audible dialogue]
♪ Breathless and on again… ♪
“Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, so do our minutes hasten to their end.”
♪ Beside me today ♪
♪ Around, broken in two ♪
♪ Till your eyes shed ♪
♪ Into dust… ♪
“Crooked eclipses against his glory fight, and time… that gave… doth now his gift confound.”
♪ Till my hand shook ♪
♪ With the weight of fear ♪
[no audible dialogue]
♪ Turning into dust ♪
[indistinct chatter]
The last time you were here, you became an internet star.
I’ll try not to punch anyone today.
[laughs weakly]
[sighs]
You okay?
Yeah. I…
I still get really tired sometimes.
Hmm.
Let’s take a seat.
[Ingrid groans]
[children shouting playfully]
Who’d be a parent, eh?
Ah.
God, they make us so vulnerable.
We’d kill for them.
You know, don’t you?
So you planned it all behind my back.
You don’t just kill somebody, Ingrid.
That takes some real thought.
How long were you thinking about it?
From the moment she told me he had beaten the shit out of her.
Paige was drowning, Simon.
Every time she’d get to the surface, that bastard would be there waiting to drag her down again.
Why make it so violent?
I saw this story in the paper about a gang killing, and they cut three fingers off, so I copied that.
We are talking about murder, Ingrid.
Do you understand?
It was only going in one direction.
I was not going to stand by and let him kill her.
She was desperate.
And how did you feel? After you did it?
I felt relief.
Why didn’t you tell me you took her to rehab?
Because she begged me not to. [splutters] It was the only reason she agreed to go.
I wanted you to know.
So all those months I was out there, searching the streets, the drug dens, and she was in rehab.
You should’ve told me the truth, Ingrid.
I’d never have done that to you.
It’s not about you.
And it’s not about me. It was about her.
Our daughter.
As long as he was alive, I knew he was always going to find her.
He was a fucking parasite.
So what happened?
I told her to go back to rehab and to stay away from the flat.
[dramatic music playing]
And then…
I got myself an alibi. It was Jay at work.
You know he was just an alibi, don’t you?
Yeah.
He said he’d cover for me that night if anyone asked any questions.
And then I went to the Mexican restaurant.
I made my usual order.
Jay was worried, and he followed me.
I slipped out the back, and after I lost him, I went to Aaron’s flat.
[blade clinks]
[siren wailing]
[Simon] So that’s what Luther was gonna tell me.
He saw you leave the estate, and then when he saw you in the basement near Rocco, he assumed you were gonna start killing others.
He was scared of you.
What do they want?
Wait.
What are they doing here?
Luther!
Whoa! No.
Don’t be fucking crazy!
[gunshot]
[Ingrid grunts]
That’s why he kept saying it was self-defense.
Why didn’t you ask me to help you?
‘Cause I knew you would’ve talked me out of it.
Because I love you.
And I wanted to protect you.
And if they caught me, one of us would be free to raise our kids.
Ever practical.
[Ingrid sniffs]
I nearly lost you.
And I thought I’d lost Paige too.
And I can’t go through that again.
I love our family.
All I ever wanted to do was protect that.
I do too.
No more secrets.
Yvonne.
You know those photos you showed us a few Christmases ago of you and Ingrid as kids?
What about them?
There were ones of her abroad, right?
When she was away doing her modeling.
Um, she went mad when she saw them.
They’re downstairs in the basement.
I need to see them.
[tense music playing]
[music intensifies]
[music fades out]
You know those are radishes, not tomatoes, don’t you?
Radishes.
Radishes. Rad…
[laughing] I hope this’ll taste better than your pasta bake.
[Sam] Oi, it was pretty good.
[Ingrid] Your dad told me about it.
[Anya] If you like more cheese than pasta.
Cut the tomatoes in order to make the sauce.
Hello, love.
[playing guitar]
[playing stops]
You know, I never understood what you saw in Aaron.
How could you be so attracted to someone so awful?
You know what struck me as strange?
In your flat on the estate, there were two single mattresses on either side of the room.
[dramatic musical sting]
[Simon] What young couple doesn’t want to share a bed?
Dad, we–
Hold on.
Hold on.
[breathes heavily]
I went to see Doug Mulzer today.
Sweetheart, I am so sorry for what he did to you.
I understand if you don’t wanna talk about it, but if you ever do, I am here when you’re ready.
[inhales deeply] I’m sorry.
He told me that he was attacked… viciously.
He said that a man in a balaclava did it.
That was Aaron, right?
Mulzer told me that when Aaron was beating him, he kept screaming at him over and over.
“No one hurts my sister.”
You were on a genealogy site too.
You found out that Aaron was your half-brother… and that you had the same mother.
Mum.
Look what’s behind her.
It’s a symbol for The Shining Truth.
Mum told me that she never went modeling abroad.
She was part of this…
I don’t know what to call it.
Cult.
She got pregnant, had a baby, thought it was stillborn.
She escaped eventually and went to rehab.
The same one that she took you to.
Look, Dad.
Aaron was so damaged.
He’d been abused by his father from a young age and… and you have to remember where I was at.
Everything that had happened with Doug, the assault, and then I take this DNA test, and my whole life feels like this big lie.
And now I suddenly had this big brother and… we talked for hours.
I told him about Doug.
And he… he took care of it, and it was awful.
But I felt…
I don’t know, protected, maybe?
And then, Aaron got me high.
Helped me escape from everything.
I think he knew what he was doing.
How do you mean?
I think he loved the idea of a sister.
He didn’t want to lose me.
He had to keep me hooked so that I wouldn’t abandon him, and… maybe he… wanted to take revenge on his birth mum.
He thought that he was the child that she threw away, so maybe he wanted to destroy the one that she kept.
And you never told your mother you knew she had a son?
I did. I came home, and I asked her if she had a child before me, but she said no.
The cult told her the baby was stillborn.
I wasn’t listening to her then.
I was… I was addicted, and all I could think about was my next fix.
I stole her jewelry and went back to Aaron.
It’s like what you said when I took you back to rehab.
Rock bottom.
I’d driven my mum to kill someone.
But she didn’t just kill someone, did she?
She killed her own son.
Dad, we can’t tell her.
She can never know this.
No more secrets, Paige.
Dad.
She even told me about killing Aaron.
This secret isn’t like that.
This secret will destroy her.
We can’t tell her.
Ever.
[door opens]
Uh, dinner’s nearly ready.
[door closes]
Dad.
[somber music playing]
[laughter and indistinct conversation]
That good?
Really good.
[indistinct conversation]
Bless you.
I undercooked it.
[indistinct conversation continues]
[somber music continues]
[dramatic music playing]
[music fades out]
