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E arly the next morning Timber had already contacted Andy, saying they had a tentative agreement.

Timber had also contacted his lawyer to get things started.

Timber wanted it processed as quickly as possible, particularly considering the fact that Andy’s son was likely still around.

Although Andy hadn’t mentioned Max—or his grandson Brian for that matter—Timber still figured that the sooner he could get this sale locked in, the better.

That good news was spoiled when Timber took a post-breakfast walk around the new construction and found a dead rabbit nailed to the main door of Haven’s new clinic building.

With a sigh, Timber took care of the poor animal.

“Damn you, Max.” He would tell the guys of yet another Max visit to vandalize and terrorize, just to keep them all alert.

Then Timber brushed all thought of Max from his mind.

He chose to fix his thoughts on all the good things happening here.

And the fact that a couple men from the crew wanted to stay close and to help out long-term was also a boon, but Timber certainly didn’t want to depend on them permanently, in case they needed to move on with their life.

Still, the idea that they would stay and would live out their lives in this peaceful place was an absolutely lovely thought.

As he stood here for a long moment, he smiled as he realized just how much land he would have here, and very soon.

On his way back from a supply run in town, he stopped in at the vet clinic. Although Tiffany was with a client, he waited for her to be free.

When she came out after saying goodbye to the one patient, she turned to him and asked, “Hey, how was it?”

“It’s great,” he said. “I just finished with the lawyers, and they’re working on sealing the deal right now.”

She smiled. “That’s wonderful news.”

“I know,” he declared, not able to stop smiling. “It’s huge. Anyway, I just”—he shrugged—“I wanted to invite you out to the center for dinner one night this week.”

“Have you not noticed that I’ve been out there for dinner every night this past week?” she asked in a teasing note.

He winced. “You probably have, but I thought maybe this time there would be a whole lot less people around.”

“Well, that depends. How many people do you still have?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted with a frown, as he thought about it for a second. “So, maybe when I say, out for dinner , it could still end up being a bunch of people eating with us at my home,” he clarified.

“And that’s fine too,” she replied, now laughing. “I think a celebration dinner is definitely in order.”

“I would like to think so,” he said, “but I’m still waiting until the paperwork is processed though.”

“Of course,” she noted. “Do you think that Brian or Max even know about it?”

“I don’t know,” Timber stated. “I wanted to ask Andy about that, but there’s always a chance I could be opening a can of worms that could get pretty ugly.”

“And yet the law is on your side,” she added.

“You also know that won’t make a damn bit of difference to somebody like Max Killerman.”

Within seconds, after saying their goodbyes, Timber was back in his vehicle. After making one more stop to pick up some materials, he was soon back home again, happy with this turn of events.

He spent the rest of the day working at the center, hauling some materials to the guys as needed, he’d just started up the engine to hit the road again when Andy called. As soon as he picked up, Timber heard a wavering tone in his voice that made him pause. “Are you all right?”

He gave a shaky reply, “Yes,… but my son—”

“I know. He’s gone off the rails, but that’s not your fault.”

“Listen,” Andy muttered, the pain evident in his tone. “Max has Tiffany, and he’s holding her captive.”

“What?” Timber asked. brought his truck to a halt, the tires screeching.

“He just called me.”

“What did he say exactly?” Timber asked, alarm in his tone.

“Max told me that he’s got her somewhere on the property. She’s safe at the moment, but… he wants to have some fun with her . Oh my God, he’s so sick.”

“He is sick, but why does he have her? She didn’t do anything to him.”

“No, but…” Andy gulped. “But you care for her and getting to you is what matters to him.”

“I get that, but he’s not up against one young woman when it comes to me,” Timber snapped. “Andy, you need to know this won’t end well for anybody.”

“I understand,” he replied, his voice shaky.

“And I hate it. I absolutely hate that this is what it’s come to, but something’s wrong with him, something is broken, something is sick.

He’s absolutely loving the prospect of inflicting pain.

He’s always been like that though.” Andy was in tears now, sobbing.

“When Max went into the military, it was the first time I was able to breathe. I never knew what to do with him,” he cried out.

“What do you do when you have a son like that?”

“I don’t know,” Timber admitted, “but right now I need you to think, Andy. I need you to think about where he’ll have her.”

“How would I know?” he cried out in that still-shaky tone of voice. “He said he’s on the property,”

“But where? The new piece you just sold me?”

“I don’t know.”

“You better find out, Andy, or I swear to God—”

“Timber, we need to find her. He’s… he’ll hurt her. He’ll keep her as a toy. Oh my God,” he cried out. “She’s such a sweet girl.”

“Doesn’t matter what she is right now. He’s just out to torture her to get to us, and we can’t let that happen.”

“No, no, no, no,” he cried out.

It was obvious that this was far more than Andy could handle right now.

“I need you to stay in control, Andy,” Timber snapped, stilling his own nerves.

“I need your help. Listen to me, and think. Max has a place on that property that he goes to, has always gone to. It’s been his safe place, and, with you selling it, or even if you didn’t, when he’s feeling threatened, he goes there.

I need to know where that is, and that’s got to happen before he hurts Tiffany. Do you hear me?”

“Yes, I hear you. Really I do,” Andy muttered, pulling it together somewhat. “I’m trying to think. We’ve had all this land for so long, and he’s never cared about any of it.”

“Maybe he did care, but he didn’t let you know about it.”

“Maybe,” Andy conceded, the shakiness in his tone giving way to a bit of strength. “But he was never one to go out there. He doesn’t…” Then Andy stopped. “He didn’t like being out on the land. He told me how he just wanted his creature comforts.”

“Does he have a house out here, a trailer, a camp, anything at all?”

“No, not now.”

“How about before? Did he have a place at any point? All we need is somewhere to start from.”

“There was, but…” Andy sighed.

“But what? Come on, Andy.”

Andy groaned. “He had a house at one time. A cabin, and he burned it to the ground in a fit of temper, but that was a long time ago.”

“Is anything left of it?”

“No, nothing.… It’s down to dust and dirt. Nothing’s there.”

“And you’re sure he hasn’t rebuilt anything there?”

“I don’t think so because he hated it so. It was a place his mother loved, and anything to do with her he hated.”

“What the hell? That’s a conversation for another day,” Timber muttered. “Right now I need to know where he would take Tiffany, and it’ll be somewhere close by.”

“You keep driving,” Andy suggested. “The old house was by a creek.”

“Oh, don’t you worry, I’ve got other men coming too, and the sheriff’s office has been contacted as well.”

“Oh God, you need to tell them that Max’s armed. He’s likely armed to the teeth.”

“That’s not cool either,” Timber noted, with a heavy groan. “He’ll hole up somewhere, and it’ll become a bloody manhunt.”

“I’m so sorry that it’s come to this.”

Timber heard the fear in the older man’s words.

“I’ve never known what to do with him. He’s just gotten worse and worse.”

“Right, and I knew it,” Timber admitted. “I think I always knew it would come to this. He probably held off when I had so many men here, but still, I’d hoped he would have time to cool off, and that nothing would happen.”

“You can only hope,” Andy replied, “but things are looking pretty bad now.”

“I get it,” Timber muttered. “I really do. Now, Andy, I want you to stay put. I don’t want you going out after him.”

“But I’m the one who can probably talk to him the most.”

“But you might also trigger him the most, getting him so completely pissed off to the point of doing something drastic.”

“Yes,” Andy muttered, “that’s true. It might, but, if I can hold him off or can distract him from hurting her, at least it could buy some time for you to get there.”

“And how will he respond to that, when he finds out what you’re doing?”

Andy gave a broken laugh. “He’ll kill me without a second thought. He’s wanted to for years.” At Timber’s shocked silence, Andy added, “I’m not kidding. Something is very wrong with him. At this point, I don’t think he cares anymore.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Timber muttered. “I think he knows he’s done for anyway, and he’ll just take out as many as he can with him.”

“But he’s not done for yet, is he?” Andy asked, ever hopeful.

“It doesn’t look good for Max,” Timber shared.

“Now that everybody knows he’s here, it’s only a matter of time before the authorities catch him.

He won’t go down easy. And you don’t understand.

Not just the local sheriff’s deputies are after Max.

The military has been looking for him too.

They’ve apparently had an investigation going into some of his prior actions. ”

Andy was crying again, breaking up his words, making it hard for him to continue.

Timber added, “He’ll never see daylight again.”

“Shit,” Andy muttered.

“Exactly, and he knows it. And you know how he feels about being in prison. There’s no give in him.”

“No,… there isn’t. There’s no give in him, and all he wants is to cause chaos and pain.”