Moburg also tells them that Lotterman has closed the paper. Out of spite, Sanderson withdraws his bail, meaning that Kemp and Sala are now wanted by the police. Chenault shows up at Kemp's place, after Sanderson disowns her. Lotterman returns, but will not publish Kemp's story. Kemp has an epiphany while under the influence, and resolves to write an exposé on Sanderson's shady deals. He also sells them hallucinogens, which they take. When Sala and Kemp return home, Moburg tells them that Lotterman has left and that the paper will go out of business.
The next day, Chenault is gone, and Sanderson tells Kemp that their business arrangement is over. When Sanderson tries to intervene, he is forcefully removed from the dancefloor by locals and led out of the club by Kemp and Sala for his own safety.
At night, they go to a club, and a drunk Chenault dances with local men to provoke Sanderson, with whom she has been fighting. Sanderson berates Kemp for involving Sala in the deal. Kemp finds Chenault, and they wind up on Sanderson's boat. Zimburger takes Kemp and Sala to see the island, part of which is still being used as an artillery range by the US military. They share a moment, but Kemp resists temptation. Later Kemp is asked to pick up Chenault from her house. The plan is to build a resort on a "pristine" island off the coast of Puerto Rico. The next day, Kemp meets with Sanderson's partners, who introduce him to the venture. The police arrive and break up the fight, then throw Sala and Kemp in jail. Later, an inebriated Sala berates a restaurant owner for refusing them service Kemp senses the owner's hostility, so Sala and he beat a hasty retreat, pursued by angry locals. He meets Zimburger and Segarra, who are working with Sanderson on his venture. Kemp visits Sanderson and spies on him having sex with Chenault in the sea. Moburg has been fired, and rants about killing Lotterman. Moburg returns with leftover filters from a rum plant they contain high-proof alcohol. Kemp begins to see the poverty of San Juan, but Lotterman does not want him to write about it, as it would be bad for tourism. Later, Kemp moves in with Sala, who also rooms with Moburg. Sanderson is engaged to Chenault, who pretends not to know Kemp. While waiting for an interview, Kemp meets Hal Sanderson, a PR consultant flaunting a luxurious lifestyle, who offers him a side job writing public relations material for his latest venture. Kemp also meets Moburg, a deadbeat reporter who cannot be fired. Kemp and Sala immediately go on a drinking binge, which earns Kemp the enmity of his editor, E.J Lotterman. Kemp checks into a hotel, and while idling about on a boat in the sea, meets Chenault, who is skinny-dipping while avoiding a Union Carbide party. There, he meets staff photographer Sala, who gets him acclimated and tells him he thinks the newspaper will fold soon. He gets a job at a newspaper in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Paul Kemp is an author who has not been able to sell a book.