Pip returns home frantically and tells her parents that she has lost Barney. She and her father head back out into the woods and call the dog’s name. Two hours later, they still cannot find him, and they return home. Pip wonders if this is all her fault because she ignored the final warning she was given through the anonymous note. She begins to think that Barney has been taken by the killer.

The next day, Pip and her father plan to search the woods again while her mother and Josh make posters to hang up. In the afternoon, Pip receives a text from Ravi, who says he saw the missing dog posters and asks her if she is alright. She then receives a text at dinner from an unknown number stating, “Want to see your dog again?” (290).

The next text Pip receives comes at 11:00am the following morning. It gives her instructions to bring her computer and any USBs or hard drives her project is saved on to the tennis club parking lot and to walk 100 paces into the trees. The text states that if she does not tell anyone and comes alone, she will get Barney back.