“Hang in there, Max.” I peer over the top of Max’s car seat when we stop at a red light.

His little body rapidly expands and contracts as his lungs work overtime. His whines tell me he’s scared and confused. He has no idea what’s going on, and it breaks my heart to watch him fight for his life.

I touch his head gently, afraid to hurt him. “Everything’s going to be okay, Max.”

I don’t believe my own words. I’ve seen how his muscles jerk uncontrollably. He’s having seizures.

As soon as the lights turn green, I step on it. The GPS tells me to take a right turn. The robotic voice is calm, cool, collected, unrushed—it annoys me.

We need to get to the clinic right now. I’m worried Max wouldn’t even make it onto the vet’s examination table.

Maybe Jacob’s right. Maybe it’s a lost cause and there’s no hope for Max at all. Maybe there’s zero chance that Max is going to live to see the sun rise.

But I have to give it my best shot. I won’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t. I’ll be damned if Max died because I choose to search for someone who may not even exist, instead of getting him to the vet.

Why is Jacob so sure this was done by someone who wants to hurt me anyway?

Maybe Max is sick because he’s old. He could’ve swallowed something poisonous just because he’s an idiot who’d eat anything. Maybe someone unintentionally fed Max something bad, and had no idea it was going to turn out this way. A neighborhood kid could’ve given him chocolate, for example.

Why would Jacob jump to the conclusion that it was a calculated, malicious move against me?

And why would he suspect Steve and Caine? I already told him they’re safe. Neither one of them would gain anything from me moving out of Ashbourne. Steve would just lose one potential downline for his network, and Caine never wanted anything from me in the first place.

They both have cleared my safety checks, but apparently that means nothing to Jacob. Only his judgment matters because I obviously know nothing.

To that, I say fuck off. I’ve worked in a seedy industry full of men who wanted to take advantage of me, and I’ve survived.

I used my stripping job to pay for Mom’s medical treatments, get an education, and build a nest egg of savings. I used my job and never let it use me.

I know how to take care of myself, thank you very much. I’d been doing that just fine for years before Jacob came along, pounding his chest and marking his territory.

I park my car in front of the building with a big bright sign that says 24-Hour Animal Clinic. I pick up Max’s car seat and balance the whole thing on my arms. It’s heavier and more awkward to carry him this way, but I don’t want to risk hurting Max by moving his body.

A teenager in blue scrubs opens the door for me. They’ve been waiting for Max. A young, attractive brunette who looks like she’s in charge gestures for me to follow her.

We walk into the examination room and I place the car seat on the stainless-steel surface. Max is still lying limp on the car seat. He’s whining, his little body jerking uncontrollably every once in a while.

“What’s his name?” The vet keeps her eyes on Max as she addresses me. The name tag on her lapel says ‘Sarah.’

“Max.”

“Did he eat anything suspicious?” She leans down to inspect Max’s mouth and eyes, her long brown waves tumbling to the front as she does.

“I don’t know.”

“You didn’t feed him anything unusual, anything different from what he normally eats?” Sarah touches various parts of Max’s body with practiced movements. She looks like she knows what she’s doing.

“No. He was like this when I found him in the backyard.”

“Was he in the backyard on his own?” She speaks in a calm, precise manner. She doesn’t seem alarmed. Maybe that’s a good sign.

“Yes.”

“Is there any access from the street directly into the backyard?”

“There’s a side gate that separates the backyard from the street.”

“You may want to call the cops. Your dog has ingested some kind of poison. It may have been by accident, but it’s also very possible that someone has deliberately fed it to him.”

“Why would someone do something like that?”

“I have no idea.” She shrugs and shakes her head. “It could be because the dog is noisy, or just because whoever did it wanted to see how the poison would affect the dog. It’s sad, but it happens. Any other animals in your house that could wander into the backyard?”

“No.”

“Good. We’ll take care of him. You can sit outside in the waiting room and call the cops. You may also want to report this to the Animal Services and SPCA. My vet tech has all the numbers.”

“Is Max going to make it?”

“We’ll do our best.” Sarah looks up and meets my gaze for the first time. She gives me a kind smile, but there’s uncertainty in her eyes.

I want to grab her shoulders, shake her, and make her say she’s going to fix everything, make her promise she’ll give Max back to me as healthy as he was yesterday. But I know that’s not a fair expectation.

So I smile back at her and thank her before going outside to wait, closing the door behind me.

“Don’t worry,” says the guy in blue scrubs as I take a seat. He’s probably the vet tech Sarah mentioned earlier. He puts a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “Your baby is in good hands. Is there anything I can do for you now?”

“Well, the vet told me to call the cops.”

“Right. Animal abuse. I have a list of numbers you can call. You don’t have to, but most people prefer doing something rather than just sitting here waiting. I’ll get you the numbers”

“Thank you.”

“Here you go.” The vet tech gives me a small piece of paper with some phone numbers on it. “My name is Brian. I’ll be right there behind the counter if you need anything,” he says before he goes back to his work.

I sit there in the waiting room, leaning forward with my elbows on my thighs, staring at the piece of paper until the writing becomes blurry.

Should I call the cops? Why do that when they probably won’t do anything?

If I call them and tell them about Jacob’s suspicion of Steve and Caine, are they going to check those leads? Are the cops going to bump into Jacob if and when they do?

What if they see Jacob beating the shit out of some innocent guy? Would Jacob get into trouble? Do I want him to get into trouble?

I have so many questions. A part of me feels like I need to have all the answers before making a decision. I don’t want to make the wrong move and make things worse.

At the same time, Brian is right. It’s a horrible feeling, sitting around helplessly while a crisis unfolds. I may actually feel worse now than I did on the drive here.

Okay. It’s decided then. I’ll call the cops.

Maybe it’ll help, maybe it won’t. What’s the worst that can happen? If Jacob gets into trouble, that would be his own fault. So be it. I don’t care.