When I get to the backyard, Jessica's sobbing, kneeling on the grass. Her bare, freshly showered knees and feet sink into the mud, leaving brown stains on her pale skin.

In front of her, partially blocked by her back, is Max. His coat is as shiny as always, but he's just lying there, struggling to breathe.

“What happened?” I crouch beside Jessica and place a reassuring hand on her shoulder. I notice a small puddle of sick near poor Max’s little furry head, and some blood trickling out of his nose.

Damn it. The poor little fucker probably went out through the dog flap when I was still reading the financial section. When the fuck did I become the kind of person who just lays down and lets shit happen right under my nose?

“I don't know. I came out here and he was just… He was already like this when I found him.” Jessica answers without turning to look at me, her eyes locked firmly on Max.

I get up and start to check the ground. Damn it, it's starting to get dark. I grab my phone, turn on the flashlight, and scan the grass. There may not be anything left, but I need to try, for Jessica’s sake. She needs to know what really happened here.

“I’ll call the vet.” Jessica ‘s fingers start tapping on her phone, the cool blue light from the screen making her look otherworldly in the darkness. “Can you drive me?”

“No.”

“What? Hold on.” Jessica puts the phone to her ear.

I have to hand it to the vet. It doesn't take long at all for Jessica to get an emergency address for immediate treatment, but I don't think any vet is going to be able to help Max now.

Jessica carefully picks Max up in her arms, his little body limp like a lifeless doll. She says, “Get the car keys on the dining table, Jacob. Let's go.”

“No, it's too late for the little guy. We need to find whoever did this.”

“What are you talking about? You're not coming with me to the vet?”

“There are more important things to do right now.”

“Like staring at the grass, when we could be saving Max’s life?” Jessica raises her voice.

“It's rat poison.”

“What?”

“It's poison. I can’t say what kind for sure, but rat poison is the most widely available kind. Someone poisoned Max, and I'm trying to find some clues.” I check the area near the side gate leading to the backyard.

Whoever did this probably threw some kind of food laced with rat poison over the fence, so there should at least be traces of it left.

“I don't care what it is. We need to get Max to a clinic,” she says.

“We need to find the asshole who did this.” I kneel down to check out a suspicious piece of something brown and green. I didn't see it before because the colors hide it well among the grass and soil.

“Who? How long is it going to take you to find him? It could be anyone. Remember what the cops said about the letter in my mailbox. It could be anyone, for any reason.”

“I’ll start with Steve and Caine.”

“It's not them. Jacob, I’m telling you. You’d just be wasting your time if you approached them. Caine, especially. He’s a dangerous man,” Jessica says.

“Maybe I’m a dangerous man, too.” I know Jessica's getting aggravated, but I’m getting really tired of her throwing caution to the wind and having secret meetings with potentially dangerous men. Somebody has to be the responsible adult here, and it's obviously not going to be her.

“How are you even so sure that Max isn't just sick? He’s an old dog,” Jessica says.

“Call it a hunch,” I say as my fingers move the taller blades of grass out of the way.

“So I’m standing here waiting for you while Max is slowly dying, and it's all because you have a hunch?”

“There's something here.” I flash the light from my phone onto the suspicious thing on the ground. “Did you give Max some food here recently?”

“No. Jacob, listen. I’m done talking. Max needs to make it to the vet like right now. Do whatever you want. I'm going to the vet,” Jessica says.

I raise my head and open my mouth to call her, but she's gone. She must've slipped away when I was looking at this chunk of bright green minced meat on the ground.

It's some sort of poison alright, but I can't be sure what kind, or how much Max has ingested.

I hope the fact that his body was all the way over there means that he only ate a little bit before walking away. I do feel for the little guy, and I hope he makes it.

It's just more important to find the person responsible for this and keep Jessica safe. At least she's out of the house, which is where she's safest, considering whoever did this seems to want to chase her out, make her run away, keep her on her toes.

Jessica's right; if someone wanted to kidnap her or kill her, they would've already done that.

But what if that someone wants to stretch out the chase, maximize Jessica's pain, extend her punishment?

Then the easiest way to accomplish that is to hit her just when she lets her guard down. When she starts settling down, make her run away to another town. When she starts to settle down again in the new town, drive her away again. On and on until the guy’s bored of the cruel game.

This means there’s a good reason why the guy hasn’t openly attacked her yet, despite having had many opportunities to do so. This means neither Steve nor Caine can be ruled out.