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Timber found the lean-to, with a little bit of smoke coming out of the edge, but saw no sign of her, at least not visibly, which also meant that there would be no sign of Max.

He would be hidden in the shadows somewhere, waiting for Timber.

He had no choice but to flush out Max, and that meant making his own presence known.

He let out a whistle and then shifted quickly to the side, just as a bullet slammed over his head and into the tree trunk.

Even though Timber had already moved, Max had been nearly on him.

Timber half smiled in the semidarkness, didn’t say anything, and zigzagged very, very quickly and as quietly as he could.

Then, using an old tried-but-true technique, he threw his voice to the side and whistled again.

Immediately another bullet slammed, but this time Max’s aim had been way off, so Timber’s trick made all the difference. He kept approaching in an indirect manner, getting a little bit closer and closer, knowing that he wouldn’t get close enough to make a difference.

Suddenly Max called out, “Quit playing games. I know exactly where you are.”

Timber didn’t say anything.

“Get your ass over here before I hurt her.” Then he appeared, stepping out of the shelter, holding Tiffany in front of him, his free hand on her neck, prodding her forward.

As Timber studied her closely, he saw the tears in her eyes, but he also saw the defiance in her expression, and he realized just how much this moment would matter. He couldn’t afford to make a mistake.

Hesitating, considering his options, another noise sounded off to the side behind him.

Max shifted ever so slightly and fired immediately into the bush.

Yet he didn’t fire once; he fired multiple times, which was an interesting reaction.

Either that was fear or a sign that he didn’t give a shit.

He just wanted whoever was out there to know that Max was here and was in charge.

Timber didn’t say anything, trying to figure out what was going on in this man’s twisted mind, all the while knowing time was short.

He suspected Max was done with everything and wanted this over with, and maybe taking Tiffany was literally just that, a chance to bring this to an abrupt end of some kind.

But, in the end, that would have Max going out in a blaze of glory, with no actual glory involved at all.

A blaze of fury most likely was what it would be.

Max wanted to go out, wanted something to spike his temper enough that he could do everything he needed to do and just shoot until nobody cared anymore, that nobody being him—and not caring anymore because he would already be dead.

“Come on. Stop screwing around. I can wait around all day, or maybe I can’t. I don’t give a shit,” Max bellowed, then turned and put his handgun up against Tiffany’s head.

She closed her eyes and didn’t say anything. She just stood firm.

“Look at her. She thinks somebody here is coming to her rescue. Little does she know that it’s just bringing you all to your death.”

Just then came a wavering voice from the side, and Andy stepped out of the shadows. “Leave her alone, son. She hasn’t done anything to you.”

“Oh, look at that, good God. The bleeding-heart old fool is here,” Max announced, spitting venom.

“Haven’t you done enough, Max? I can go talk to Timber again, if you think that’s what you need. We can sort this out peacefully.”

Max laughed. “Peacefully, huh ? You should have thought of that before. What do you think, Timber? And what kind of fucking name is that, asshole? You think I should go beat up the old man… again?” Max looked around to the exact area where Timber was.

“Andy’s the one who sold you that property, after all.

I told you that I wanted it back, not for you to go get a bigger chunk.

That’s my land. That’s all my fucking land, you asshole. ”

“No, it was my land,” Andy snarled, some of his own temper coming back. “And you ain’t got no business treating your old man like that.”

“Why not?” he asked, turning to him. “You’re useless. You always have been, always will be. I’ve got no use for you when you’re like that.”

“You’ve got no use for anybody,” Andy declared to the shadows around him. “That’s the problem. You came back even more damaged than when you went away.”

“Yeah,… well, I’m not damaged. I’m just fine. You’re the only one who seems to think I’m damaged,” he said, followed by a laugh. “I’m just me, same as I’ve always been.”

“And that’s the problem,” Andy cried out. “There’s something wrong with you. It not normal to be so hateful like you are.”

“Doesn’t matter whether it’s normal or not. It doesn’t matter at all. What matters is that I get everything I’m supposed to get,” he snarled. “Go home, old man. I don’t want you here.”

“Why not? You afraid to let the old man see just how far you’ve slid?” Andy asked, with a quiver in his tone.

“I already know how far I’ve slid,” Max declared, “and I don’t give a shit about you anymore. You sold off my land, and for what?”

“I sold the land I don’t need because I’m dying,” Andy admitted. “And because you’ve got both the MPs and the civilian cops looking for you, you’ll never get free of them. They’ll lock you up for life, and you’ll never work the land like you were supposed to.”

He looked over at him. “The military ain’t gonna find me.” But his tone was weak and faint at that.

“You know better than that, son. You absolutely know better than that. They won’t give up until you’re hunted down, and they’ll take you back for whatever it is that they feel you’ve done.”

Max shrugged. “They’re probably right in whatever they think I’ve done,” he stated, “but I really don’t give a shit because those sins aren’t sins as far as I’m concerned. Everybody I ever killed or hurt deserved it.”

“Everybody?” his father repeated, his voice quivering. “I highly doubt it, son. I doubt it greatly. You like to hurt things. You always have.”

Max shrugged. “Sure, what do I care? None of it matters. I don’t feel any pain like they do, so I can’t really see what all the fuss is about. Besides, it doesn’t really matter because you won’t be here much longer either.”

“No, I won’t,” Andy agreed in a shaky voice. “Whether you shoot me or not,” he added, “I won’t be here much longer because the cancer will take me.”

“So, the property sale hasn’t gone through yet,” Max decided. “I’ll just reverse that. Even if I sit on it in jail for twenty years, it’ll still be there for me.”

“Except you can’t,” Andy cried out. “The deal’s already done. The land has already been sold.”

“Then I’ll just shoot him and take it back.”

“You can’t,” Andy cried out again. “You can’t take it back. It’s legally Timber’s.”

To Timber, Tiffany seemed to be holding her own, thank God.

Yet Andy seemed to have gained a certain amount of strength, only to start fading ever so slightly, and that was a concern.

If he was fading, he would look weak in the eyes of his son, which could trigger Max to take an unfair advantage over the old man.

Timber stepped forward. “So now what?” Timber asked in a conversational voice. “You got your dad here. You’ve got Tiffany, who doesn’t even know who you are, or what you’re up to. Plus, you’ve got me. I’m right here.”

“Look at that. You must really like this piece of ass, huh ?” he asked, as he twisted Tiffany’s hair.

Timber watched Tiffany cry out in agony, only to stiffen ever so slightly against the pain sent her way.

“She’s got spunk.” Max laughed, maddeningly. “I kind of like that. Too bad you didn’t move a little faster with her though. She really needs some taming.”

“She’s not a horse,” Timber replied calmly. “And none of your insults will make any difference.”

“No? That’s too bad because I was thinking that maybe I could make her life a whole lot nicer, you know, spend some quality time with her.” At that, he laughed uproariously.

She turned to stare at him but managed to keep herself quiet.

“Oh, you see? Now look at that. That look in her eyes. If you could see it there, she’s ready to murder somebody,” Max declared, with a howl. “Too bad she doesn’t realize that she won’t get a chance to do anything.”

And he held her just firmly enough and close enough that Timber didn’t dare take a shot, couldn’t do anything, and Andy was also fading. “Your dad needs a hand,” Timber said. “He’s too old for this shit.”

“He was too old for this shit from the day he was born. What do I care if he needs a hand?” Max asked, with a cold stare. “The old man sold me out.”

“No, you sold yourself out,” Timber clarified calmly. “You’re the piece-of-shit son Andy couldn’t hand the land over to because you wouldn’t work it.”

“Of course I wouldn’t work it, but I would have stayed here, and I would have loved the place,” he cried out, passion in his tone. “Because, at the end of the day, everybody needs a place to come home to.”

“And since you’ve come home, you’ve done absolutely nothing but torture Andy. The man can hardly even stand.”

Max looked over at Andy and shrugged. “So what? As if I care.”

“I’ve not been here for long, but I know that what you’re doing to him isn’t fair and that you’re just crying out to be killed this way.”

“I’m not trying to… Oh. Oh, God, you think I’m trying to get shot?

As in death-by-cop or something? Nah ,…

that’s not happening.” He chuckled. “I’m totally okay to just shoot her dead right now.

” And he put the handgun right up against her head, a smile on his lips.

“And don’t worry. I’ll find those horses of yours and make them pay too. ”

“I don’t doubt that you would,” Timber replied, his tone hard as he realized just how far gone Max was. “You do realize that there’s no way out of here for you. This is a one-way ticket. You say that’s not what you were planning, but it’s obvious that it is.”

“What do you mean, it’s obvious?”