On Tuesday morning, Jasper sees a news broadcast featuring a blurry photo and a viral ten-second video of the white deer in the Uwharrie National Forest. Recognizing the boulder outcropping in the video from family hikes decades ago, he marks both sighting locations on an old county map and draws an oval estimating the deer's range. He then reasons through how poachers would need vehicle access, knowledge of roads, and an exit route to transport a carcass undetected. Unable to find modern maps at gas stations, he copies a forest map from a sign at the main entrance and spends the day driving every main road, fire road, and off-road trail, mapping the terrain. Near the southern end of an off-road trail, he discovers a snapped sapling and tire tracks leading into the virgin forest—evidence that a vehicle, likely the Littleton brothers' truck, has already penetrated toward the deer's range. He parks his truck behind a berm out of sight and waits through the evening and into darkness, watching for headlights, but no one comes.

The chapter interweaves Jasper's present-day vigil with extensive flashbacks of his life. After Hurricane Helene destroyed his house and insurance refused flood coverage, Jasper sold the property and moved to the cabin. Working for contractor Ned Taylor, he discovered the Bradford pear tree through an NC State professor and built a monopoly business growing and selling the trees to developers across the Southeast. His success allowed him to marry Audrey, build her dream house, and raise four children—David, Mary, Deborah, and Paul—in a devout, loving household. He donated generously to his church and the local food bank. However, his business declined as competitors emerged and inflation soared in the late 1970s, and in 1986 a tornado destroyed his last grove of Bradford pears, forcing him and Audrey to mortgage their home.

On Wednesday, Jasper returns before dawn but again finds no poachers. He purchases deer repellent and ultrasonic devices from Lowe's, then hikes deep into the deer's estimated range, where he discovers corn bait scattered in a clearing with multiple hoofprints, and a hastily built shooting hide with sneaker prints nearby—circumstantial evidence pointing to the Littleton brothers. He rakes up the corn, spreads deer repellent, deploys the ultrasonic devices, and covers his tracks. That evening, he stakes out the berm again. Around nine p.m., he sees headlights pass—a vehicle heading toward the clearing to replenish the bait. After a tense wait and a difficult engine start, he follows the vehicle out of the forest and through Asheboro, confirming that the black pickup returns to Clyde Littleton's driveway. No carcass is visible, meaning the deer is still alive.

The chapter's most devastating flashback recounts the Fourth of July 1983 fire. Paul, Jasper's youngest, hosted a bonfire that grew out of control after he'd been drinking. The fire spread to the house while the family slept. Jasper awoke coughing, found Audrey unconscious, and carried her out, sustaining burns over 60 percent of his body. He tried to re-enter the burning house to save his other children but was dragged back by firemen. Audrey died from burns; David, Mary, and Deborah died of smoke inhalation. Paul was arrested, refused legal defense, pled guilty, and received a six-year sentence. On his first night in prison, Paul hanged himself with his bedsheets. Jasper spent over a year in hospitals and burn centers, emerging with a ruined body and no family, recognizing in his suffering the story of Job.

On Thursday morning, Jasper returns to the clearing before dawn to remove the fresh corn the Littletons have deposited. As he finishes and starts back toward his truck, he stumbles and his back seizes in a paralyzing spasm, his knee slamming into a rock. Unable to stand, he drags himself to a small tree and painfully pulls himself upright. He sees pinpricks of flashlight in the forest to the north—the Littletons approaching—and realizes with fear that Josh will discover the removed bait, the repellent, and the ultrasonic devices. Frightened but determined, Jasper limps toward his supplies as the poachers close in.