“A few years off my sentence.”
“I told you that wasn’t up to me. That’s up to your attorney. You’ve been here before, so you know how it goes.”
Smith’s shoulders slumped. “I needed the money.”
“And?”
“The Winchester boys came to me after their father hired me as a ranch hand. I’d worked for Rudy Hollister before. I knew the back roads, the barns… the best times to move cattle without notice.” He shrugged as if conceding defeat.
“You’re going to have to give me more than that,” Deke said, voice low. “Is Chet Winchester involved?” Smith went silent. Deke slammed his palm on the table; Smith jerked, eyes widening. “Is he?”
Smith released a ragged breath. “Yes. I never talked with him personally, just through his kids.”
“Why did Winchester do this?”
“He hates Rudy. Hollister’s beef blows his stock off the market. The man can’t stand it.” Smith sighed.
“Where were you taking the cattle?”
“I don’t know.”
“Bullshit. Where?”
Smith’s gaze dropped to his bound hands. “Chet’s got a guy dealing on the black market with the beef and the hides.”
Deke’s fingers drummed the table. “That’s not what I asked.”
Smith swallowed. “Johnny was driving them to Autumn Falls. They’d off-load at this warehouse—” He shook his head.
“And then?”
“They’d butcher them. Sell the meat off the books, cure the hides, then ship those too.”
Deke leaned back, the chair creaking. “Who’s the man in Autumn Falls?”
“Anthony Dyer.”
Deke raised an eyebrow. “Anthony Dyer?”
“He’s got connections,” Smith mumbled.
“Never heard of him. And how’d you get mixed up in this?”
“I told you. The Winchesters offered me cash. They knew I had worked for Hollister.”
Deke smirked. “Was it well compensated?”
Smith’s face fell. “Not now.”
“Why not just find honest work?”
“Hollister blackballed me, fired me for almost burning down his barn.”
“How did you almost burn his barn down?”
“I was drunk,” Smith murmured.
“So, you thought stealing his cattle was fair payback?”
