Willard’s right shoulder was grossly dislocated, and there was a clipboard handle embedded in his left thigh. At first he seemed to move toward the sound of his father’s voice. For a moment Cole thought that some sort of familial connection had been made. But in the next moment, he realized it wasn’t so. Willard moved past his father without so much as a look, drag-stepping toward the other side of the barn.

The gun slipped from Thedford’s hand. “Willard, it’s me. It’s your pa.” His face soured. “You answer me when I’m talkin’ to you, boy!”

Willard didn’t answer. He didn’t even turn.

All of the horses were stomping in their stalls now, snorting fitfully, and jerking their heads around.

“Willard!”

Cole jumped.

“Goddamnit, I’m talking to you, boy!” Thedford made a move toward his son, but Cole grabbed his arm, stopping him. “You get your hand off me, Logan.”

Cole tightened his grip. “Mr. Blunt, there’s something you have to know about your son. About all of these guys . . .”

Thedford shrugged free of Cole’s grasp, retrieved the shotgun at his feet, and marched after Willard.

“Goddamnit, I’m talkin’ to you, boy, and I expect an answer.” He spun Willard around like a limp doll, then slammed the shotgun against his son’s chest, pinning his back against a stall. “Where the fuck you been, boy? You’s supposed to be dead!” When he got no answer, Thedford slapped Willard hard across the cheek.

Savannah screamed.

“Mr. Blunt, don’t!” Cole rushed toward him.

“Answer me, boy, or I’ll beat you good!” Another slap. Willard’s head jerked from one side to the other.

Thedford raised the gun barrels to his son’s nose. “You were supposed to be dead, you sonofa—”

Before Thedford finished the statement, Cole drove a fist into the back of Thedford’s neck, knocking him out cold.

“You okay?”

Savannah nodded. She sat with her back against the side of the barn, looking out across the pasture.

Cole came down beside her. “Got kind of crazy in there, huh?”

The gravity of all that had happened in the last forty-eight hours had finally come crashing down on her about the time Cole delivered the blow to Thedford’s neck. She had rushed out of the barn the second he’d hit the floor.

“Is he all right?” she asked. “Not that I really care.”

“When he wakes up I’ll ask him. I tied him up in one of the empty stalls. He shouldn’t bother us anymore until we’re out of here.”

She brushed a tear from her face. “It was almost like he wanted his son to be dead, Cole. How could anyone be that … God, I can’t even think of a word for it.”