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“I doubt it.” She snorted. “But I can see how anybody who has grown up unchecked with an entitled attitude might think they can cause you trouble by saying whatever they want to say.”

“Exactly,” Timber replied, “and the trouble is, it’s my word against theirs, and… I’m nobody, and he’s a…”

“Somebody.”

“Yeah.”

“No way,” she argued. “You’re not a nobody at all, and you have a lot of people with substantial standing in this area backing you.”

“You mean Kat and Badger?” he asked, with a note of humor.

“Yes, Kat and Badger, plus people you may have worked with while you’ve been here.”

“Sure, but I don’t know how many of them would go to bat for me.”

“What about Kat?”

“Kat would go to bat for anybody,” he stated.

“And you also know that you’re on that immediate list.”

“Sure, but they shouldn’t have to.”

“I get it,” she said, “but life isn’t always as peachy keen as we want it to be.”

“No, it isn’t,” he grumbled.

“How is the roofing coming along?”

“I took my temper out on it today,” he shared, “so it’s coming along just fine.”

Just enough humor filled his tone that she could see it. “In other words, you got up there, and you worked your ass off, doing the work of ten men.”

“At least six,” he corrected, “and sometimes that’s just the best way to handle life.”

“Maybe,” she murmured, “and sometimes it’s a little hard to do.”

“Not when you’re pissed off and frustrated.”

“Did you contact the sheriff’s office?”

“I planned on it but worked on the roof instead. I’ll text them in a bit.”

“Well,” she muttered, with humor in her tone, “I’m not sure I believe you, but I thought you told me how he was a good guy.”

“He’s a great guy. We served together and got through a lot of things. I’m just not sure he’s in a position to buck the tide where he’s at.” And, with that, Timber disconnected.

It was a simple click of the connection, but it had such finality to it.

If there was one thing Tiffany could say about him, it’s that he was a straight shooter.

She didn’t know how he would handle this back-and-forth interaction with the sheriff’s office, but probably with the attitude that everybody needed to stay away from him.

And that was likely to be as good as anybody got.

She also knew several of the local deputies, and one of them in particular for sure.

She didn’t know if that’s the same one Timber had spoken to or not, but she found her fingers automatically calling him up.

When Richard answered the phone, he said, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, what does our local vet want with the sheriff’s office?”

She smiled into the phone and asked, “Hey, Richard. How’re you doing?”

“I’m doing fine,” he replied, “and it sounds as if you’re okay, at least I’m hoping so. I can’t say we get many calls from you.”

“No, and usually there’s trouble when you do,” she began, with half a laugh. “However, I was just out at Timber’s place.”

“Timber?” he repeated. “I didn’t know you even knew him. I just found out he was here myself.”

“Yeah, he came for some antibiotics for an injured doe out at his place.”

“Right,” he muttered, his tone calm but a little on the quiet side.

“Are you guys doing anything about that?” she asked him curiously.

“It’s under investigation,” he sighed. “Not a whole lot we can do though, and we don’t even know for sure who it was.” When she snorted at that, and a long moment of silence followed, he finally spoke up. “Unless you’re trying to tell me something.”

“I know perfectly well that you know who it was, and Timber’s spoken to Andy himself,” she stated calmly. “Don’t treat me like I’m a fool, please.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Richard replied, “but obviously we’re still investigating.”

“I don’t know that Timber will say anything about it, but, when I was there, somebody came up through his property, very close to the house, but not up into the driveway, and started firing rounds into the barn and the house.”

“What?” he roared.

“Yes, and then they took off, driving like a bat out of hell. It was a truck, and I can give you a basic description, but not more than that. I left soon afterward, but he just called to confirm I made it home safe.”

“Why didn’t he call me?” he snapped.

“Maybe you should be asking yourself that question,” she declared.

“I’m calling you because I was a witness, plus I also felt traumatized and attacked at the moment.

I want to know whether it’s safe to be in this town right now or we’ve got some vigilante garbage going on that’ll make it dangerous for good citizens like me,” she snapped.

“I’ll look into it,” Richard declared.

“If you looking into it means going out there and giving Timber a hard time,” she stated, with a groan, “that won’t go over so well.”

“Hey now, that’s not what we’re about.”

“Say what you want, but he’s already got a distrust of the authorities now,” she declared, “and I know that came from your earlier visit. So, I don’t know what happened there, but, as a concerned citizen and somebody who was at the property and in the house that was shot at, believe me that I am very concerned. ”

“Of course you are,” Richard agreed. “I assure you that we will get to the bottom of it.”

“You mean, now that there’s been a shooting, or now that somebody other than him is involved?”

He sighed. “Honestly, he isn’t the problem.”

“Oh, I know he isn’t the problem,” she stated.

“At this point, because of the care he’s given her, that doe will make it, but rest assured that I will take it personally if somebody goes in there and tries to take her out.

The fact that anybody was brazen enough to shoot at the dwellings in broad daylight… ”

“And you’re sure that the shots hit the buildings?”

“Let me say that they didn’t go into his dogs or me or the doe, and she was hiding right there in the bushes.”

“That’s good that she wasn’t hit.”

“Yes, and she also has enough smarts to stay away from humans, but Timber has quite a way with animals apparently.”

“Apparently?”

“Yes… apparently,” she repeated. “I just got off the phone from talking to Kat, and she mentioned it, but just consider the situation. Timber was able to approach a wild animal, who had been shot by a human, while she was pregnant. That doe allowed Timber to remove the arrow, to clean and stitch up the wound, and then to come back and give her an injection of antibiotics. And by then she had a fawn at her side, when she would be at her most protective.”

“Wow.”

“Yes, and you know that Kat and Badger know who Timber is as well. I told them about the shooting too.”

“It would have been nice if you had called us,” he said in a testy voice.

“I just did,” she pointed out cheerfully, “because I can tell you one thing. Timber probably won’t.”

And, with that, she disconnected.