Rawley leaned back in his chair, the low hum of the overhead fluorescent light flickering across the table. He tilted his head, as he smirked. “So, you removed every VIN on the truck?” His voice was quiet, but each word landed like a hammer.
Hill’s eyes darted to Laramie then back to Rawley, knuckles whitening as he gripped the edge. “Every VIN?” he whispered.
Rawley raised his brows. He tapped a steel pen against his notebook. “On a semi-truck, you’ll find the vehicle identification number on the driver’s side, door, door jamb, dashboard, even the frame rail near the windshield. Sometimes there’s a stamped metal plate above the sun visor or inside the glove box.” Hepaused, delighting in Hill’s sudden pallor. “You removed every last one?”
Hill swallowed hard. “I wasn’t there, but Axel said it was taken care of and Hal said he’d report it stolen, said that would cover our tracks even if the truck turned up.”
Rawley shook his head as he folded his arms. “I gave you guys too much credit. Most criminals do their homework.” He leaned forward, voice cold. “Who’s pulling your strings?”
“I don’t—” Hill began, but Rawley sprang to his feet so fast the chair rolled back.
“Don’t tell me you don’t know,” Rawley barked. Hill shrank back, beads of sweat forming at his hairline.
“Axel handled it all,” he managed.
Rawley muttered, “Shit,” and sank back into the chair, rubbing his temple. “So, you stole the pickup, slapped on stolen plates, and thought you’d slip under the radar? Have you been hitting ranches all over Montana?”
Hill’s shoulders slumped. “Yes. The first time it was a rush. But Axel wanted bigger scores, stolen cattle, rancher’s herds. He bought us off after he fenced the beef, and we got greedy.”
“And you call that a rush?” Rawley snapped. “You ripped a man’s livelihood out from under him. Ranchers lose thousands, maybe their whole operation.” He shook his head in disgust. “Insurance can take months to pay because they do a deep investigation.”
Hill looked down. “Axel said they’d manage.”
Laramie cleared his throat and Rawley looked at him and nodded. Laramie leaned back in his chair.
“Where did you steal the pickup from?” Laramie asked.
“Kalispell.”
“How? The tags are from Clifton County.”
“We would steal several tags so it would throw the law off.”
Laramie shook his head, then nodded to Rawley.
Rawley’s tone went icy. “Why were you tailing me and scaring the woman?”
Hill hesitated. “Since we knew you were a livestock agent, Axel wanted to rile you. He wasn’t worried about the woman at all. He just wanted to anger you.”
“He certainly managed that.”
“And the tires on the pickup, where are the original ones?” Laramie asked.
“Axel had them changed after we stole the cattle here. He knew someone would take photos and stuff.”
“Where are they?”
“I don’t know what he did with them.”
“Who installed the new ones?”
“There’s an empty warehouse in Autumn Falls next to the tire store. Axel drove there right after we stole the cattle from the Mitchell ranch.”
“Who owns it?”
Hill didn’t answer but jumped when Rawley slammed his hand the table.
“Who owns it?” he asked again.
