In these chapters, the tide turns as Tessa and Brooks transition from desperate defense to a calculated counter-offensive. The journey begins with a breakthrough when they spot the rusted truck of Brooks’s brother, Marcus, hidden near an abandoned timber mill. Confronted by Brooks, a terrified Marcus reveals that Leo isn't just collecting a debt—he is working for a Great Falls syndicate trying to force a foreclosure to steal the valley's lucrative timber rights. Armed with this critical intelligence, Tessa and Brooks launch a daring midnight trap at the east ridge hunting lodge where Leo is staying. While Brooks uses a heavy timber-skidder to drop massive ponderosa pines across the only escape road, effectively trapping the criminals, Tessa bravely enters the lodge alone to play  ...