While they walked, taking note of the various birds, all of their necks broken, Andrew told Ryker about buying the rifle and worrying that he’d shot someone. Ryker took it all in, letting Andrew unload everything.

When he was done, Ryker stopped and said, “What the fuck is this, Deliverance? I can see whooping it up and maybe tossing a few rocks, but killing animals? This is starting to skirt into satanic territory. Or serial killer stuff.”

An iceberg was forged in Andrew’s stomach.

Ryker gripped his arms. “Let’s get back to the house and call the cops before all those birds get carried off by scavengers.”

Andrew had never felt so torn in his life. He took a ragged breath. “I don’t want Kate to know.”

“Dude, she has to know. She’s living in the middle of this crazy shit.”

“You don’t understand. What she hasn’t told you is how bad her heart has gotten. The lupus has it enlarged, and there are issues with her valves. I had her in the emergency room with chest pains not too long ago. I’m really worried what this will do to her.”

Ryker spun in a circle with his eyes closed. When he opened them, he said, “I’ll take her and Nikki out. That way you’ll have the place to yourself and the cops are free to roam around.”

“It won’t happen today.”

“Why not?”

Andrew looked back at the cottage. “Kate’s not going to be able to get up for more than going to the bathroom today…with help. A day like yesterday is a lot for her. I’ll be surprised if she’s even able to stay up for more than an hour at a stretch.”

Both men stared down at a sparrow, its head pointed the wrong way.

“This is bad,” Ryker said.

Andrew suddenly lashed out, punching a tree. His arm jerked back and he howled in pain, tucking his hand under his armpit. When he dared to look at his hand, all of his knuckles were bleeding. Ragged curlicues of flesh poked up, exposing welts of hot pink.

“Jesus, are you all right?”

Andrew hissed, shaking his hand as if he’d touched a hot stove.

“Can anything go fucking right? Do you know how much I put into this for Kate? Everything! This was her dream, our dream, and even though the circumstances are far from perfect, I thought maybe, just maybe, we could catch a break for a few months before we were thrown back in the shit storm. And now there’s this. I can’t keep her here. We’re going to have to leave and she’s going to be devastated. Motherfuckers!”

He kicked a bird carcass, watching it sail out of sight.

Ryker said, “You have to get ahold of yourself. Take a breath.”

“Save it for your seminar, Ryker. I have a right to be pissed.”