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I shrugged. “Pretty sure I know of another farm that’ll take them.”
A tinge of red climbed out the collar of his tailored shirt. “You can’t prove shit, Milovic.”
“You mean to tell me you’re so confident that none of this worries you?”
“No police officer in the county would hear you out. Not a single person in that station would ever accuse me of thieving. What the hell do I need your ratty cattle for? Why would I give two shits about Frank’s farm?”
“Because it’s the one thing you could never have. Because you wanted to succeed where your daddy, his daddy, the one before him failed. You thought you could wiggle your way in through Olivia, but she’s as good as gone.” I pulled out a handful of photos. “But fine. All right. Let’s say I can’t prove it. Think the FDA will have a hard time figuring you out when I call in a tip?” I tossed the pictures on his desk.
The blotchy red reached his jaw. “I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but—”
“Look at the pictures, James.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, you little shit.”
“Look at the pictures.”
Tiny muscles flickered next to his nostrils as he tried to maintain his composure. But he looked. And when he did, all of him went red.
I tsked, enjoying his discomfort. “Cipro? I thought you were better than that. Patton Farms, pumping their cattle full of illegal antibiotics. No wonder your heifers are so fat and healthy.”
Furious breaths sawed in and out of him, his chest rising and falling too hard and fast. A prickle of sweat beaded at his hairline. I wondered if he was hyperventilating and fantasized about him passing out right here on his desk.
“One call, and the FDA is here, testing your milk.”
“What do you want?” he asked through his teeth.
I pulled two packs of papers out, handed them over. “The papers in your hand include a number of things—documentation I’ll be sending the police for my missing cattle, the fire, and the losses from the copper poisoning. Behind that, you’ll find a lawsuit for damages and our filings for formal police charges. The last is a settlement contract.”
He skipped the first two and went straight for the out.
“The terms are simple enough. You will leave town indefinitely and hand the creamery to Chase. And you’ll pay us—”
“Three and a half million dollars?” he spat. “You’re out of your mind, son.”
“We can get ten in court. And with the benefit of seeing you in prison.”
“You can’t fucking tell me to move—”
“These are the terms, Patton. You’ve got your shiny, new headquarters and a house being built up in Washington, if I heard right. You’re going anyway. I’m just suggesting you go now and stay there.”
For a long, silent moment, he stared at me with the cold, assessing glare of a predator. “You’re smarter than you look, ’specially for an illegal.”
I ignored the jab, not interested in wasting energy correcting him. “So what’s it gonna be? The quantity of antibiotics you have suggests all of your livestock will test positive. And what then? What’ll you do when you’ve lost everything and the town where you started turns their back on you?”
He sat back in his leather chair with that hard expression still on his face. “Never figured you for an extortionist. More of a by-the-book type.”
“If I had my way, you’d already be in jail. But I owed somebody a favor.”
“Must be some favor.”
“So what’s it gonna be?” I asked, unwilling to give him anything that would implicate Chase, that stupid asshole.
“I need some time to consider.”
I shrugged, my head cocked in mock disappointment. “It’s now or never. But if you don’t want to sign—”
When I reached for the papers, he grabbed them. “I haven’t answered you yet, boy.” He pulled his reading glasses out of his shirt pocket and put them on without breaking our eye contact.
I sat, still and silent, watching him as he went through the papers one by one, the terms of the settlement last and longest. My heart was a jackrabbit in my chest, my mind chanting sign it in the hopes of manifesting my request.
A humorless chuckle from across the desk. “You even figured out how to make it look like a legitimate business deal.”
“Had to figure out how to cover for the cattle you stole, didn’t I?”
“As much as I could beat the shit out of you right now, I’m impressed.”
“Maybe that’ll stop you from underestimating me again.”
His eyes flicked from the contract to me, and I noted a sense of approval on his features. And then he signed.
When he tossed the pen on top with a clank, he said, “Shoulda asked for five. I’d have given it to you.”
“This is more than enough to meet our needs. Initiate a wire, and we’ll put all this behind us. It’ll be nice for the next generation to do what yours never could.”
