“No matter what happens to me, you gotta get Clint back. Tell him he’s my son. Always will be. In my heart and in the eyes of the law. Nothin’s ever gonna change that. He’s a Dearing.” A cough broke up his words, but he continued despite his quickly flagging energy. His eyelids drooped, and his grip loosened. “Heir to the Three . . . Cedars. My boy.”
