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Dixon finally clears his throat. “I don’t see any reason for us to remain at odds with each other. You clearly intend to continue employing my daughter, whatever that entails. I have many contacts and connections that would benefit your cattle sales and other investments.”
You’ve got to be shitting me.
I swirl the whiskey around in my glass, maintaining eye contact with him. After the silence continues to stretch on, he smiles uncomfortably.
“We have both done things we’re not proud of. I’d be willing to let bygones be bygones, reaching a mutual agreement that would increase both of our profits and keep everyone living under their own roofs.”
“Ahh, so this is about you not wanting to spend time behind bars,” I muse.
He must be worried about it if he’s desperate enough to come to me for help. I look to the side to see my father entering the room. He walks up to the card table, seating himself to my left.
“Clay, to what do we owe the pleasure?” he asks.
“Wyatt. I came by with a business proposition for your sons. I was under the belief that they were running things now.”
Pops nods. “Holden and Cash are in charge since Holden got out.”
Clay and Pops stare at each other for a few moments before Clay clears his throat and takes a sip of the whiskey. He understands that the subtle reference toward my time in prison hasn’t been forgotten.
Old Harry chuckles. “Gentlemen! We all stand to benefit from a partnership like this. There are no downsides for anyone. No jail time for those who have bent the law and profits galore for all. Where’s the fire? You’re about to end an age-old rivalry through marriage. I say we let the past go and look toward the future.”
I stand up and move over to the large gun safe in the corner of the room. “I went hunting with Duke once, when he was dating your daughter actually. We sat in this deer stand for what felt like ages. At one point, it started raining so hard that we almost called it quits. But I was starving for some venison chili.”
I key the passcode into the safe, my back blocking their view. “While we sat and watched, the rain finally cleared enough for this little family of rabbits to hop out of the woods. There were three little babies and a mama. She led them to this little puddle of water to take a drink when a snake came out of the woods and snatched one of the babies. The mama didn’t know what to do, completely defenseless, so she ran off with the other two babies.”
I open the safe and pull out the phone we found in the cabin that belonged to Jed and walk back over to the card table.
“The baby rabbit struggled to keep his head out of the rattler’s mouth, but he started to slowly widen his mouth and swallow it. But then, just before the baby was completely inside its belly, a mountain lion came out of the woods and attacked the snake. He grabbed it up in his mouth, sinking his teeth right into the belly of the snake and swinging it around until he let go of the baby rabbit, and it hopped away, unharmed.”
Clay’s face has paled, and he remains motionless. I take a slow sip of my drink before tapping through the phone to get to the video of Rosie.
“After a few minutes of playing with the snake and dangling him around, the lion bit its head off and dragged it away.” I press play on the video, swiveling the screen around toward Dixon.
His eyes shift down to watch his daughter, starving and terrified, asking to be rescued for ransom. I switch to the YouTube app on the phone, pulling up the search history for screaming woman. We’re assuming it was the video they played outside of his wife’s door in the trailer. The girl sounds surprisingly similar to Rosie.
“I know you’ve seen these clips, Clay, because it was sent to your boy there, Ethan. The funny thing is, Ethan already knew about it because he’s the one who told Jed to take the video. The bizarre thing to me about this situation is that you not only ordered for your own wife and daughter to be kidnapped, starved, and held for ransom, but you also started getting this dumb fucker to sell an illegal cattle supplement to every ranch around simply to put our ranch on the downside for profits so that we’d be forced to either sell out or use the supplement, which you would then test our bulls for and get us arrested. Either way, you wanted me back behind bars for killing your piece-of-shit brother.”
Clay’s chair scrapes against the floor as he rises, his face growing red and the veins in his forehead popping out. “I don’t need this shit from you, you fucking murderous felon. You killed him, and the state put you away for it. I have no clue why the governor would ever grant you clemency after you were clearly guilty. I pray, one day, my daughter comes to her senses and leaves this godforsaken ranch for good, but until then, I hope that she’s?—”
My mouth curves into a wry grin. “You wanna know why I was granted clemency? I wrote the governor a letter. I told him about the night I killed Cain Dixon and exactly why I did it.
“Six years ago, Cash, Sterling, and I were out at a bar in Elmott. We left the bar to go home with two of the bartenders who said they had another friend waiting, but when we got to their house, we heard screaming from one of the bedrooms. We had to break down the door, only to find none other than your brother, doing exactly what he tried to do to our sister the night I ended his miserable life. My brothers and I beat him to a fucking pulp that night, nearly killed him then. The girl was terrified to press charges. She knew who you were and that they’d never stick to him. He’d walk, just like he always did when big brother came running to the rescue.”
The room is entrenched in silence, all eyes on me. Clay’s face is ghostly white.
“You remember this, don’t you? He wouldn’t tell you what happened to him. You started suspecting us then, started hating our family even more. But that girl? That girl never forgot what we did. She wrote me a letter in prison after my sentencing, telling me who her uncle was. I’m sure you can guess by now, but it was the good governor of Texas, John Calhoon III. And he pardoned me for my crimes, even thanked me for ridding the world of your brother.”
Clay’s eyes have glassed over, like he’s in shock. He’s always been top dog in the political world, always used his power to hurt the innocent and further his own agenda. He’s realizing he’s lost for once, that he won’t be able to get away with it this time because our connections are now more powerful than his. His jaw clenches tightly as he moves to stand.
Heavy steps leading up to the den interrupt us as the sheriff from the next county and two deputies enter the room, Dolly and Rosie on their heels.
“Clay Dixon, you’re under arrest for ordering the kidnapping of Sheri and Rosie Dixon, as well as the illegal manufacturing and selling of supplements that are not FDA approved.”
The deputy reads off his Miranda rights as he cuffs Clay and Ethan both.
Old Harry sips on his whiskey casually. My father does the same, tipping his glass toward the man.
“Rosie, honey, please listen to me. These are lies! You’re safer with me,” Clay begins as they lead him away.
