‘It’s only temporary.Marcus will have cuffs or something.’
They hauled Sawyer like a sack, with the toes of his boots dragging through the dirt, and dropped him in the shade against the side of the caravan.
The chopper landed with a thud of rotors and red dust.Stone was crouched over, wearing his Federal Stock Squad vest, as he jogged towards them, while signalling at Romy to wait in the chopper.
Marcus rolled up in the police ute, door banging shut as he strode over and pointed at the dirt holes punched through the earth like a minefield.‘What’s he digging for?’
‘The title to a twenty-two-million-dollar station,’ said Porter as he glared at Sawyer.‘Your mother told me what the place was worth, and lots of stories about you.Tilly never believed you were dead.But we can see you’ve been using this station for your own personal gain—while your mother’s been hiding in town for her own safety.’
Sawyer chuckled as he shuffled sideways, like a crab, squatting in the dirt.‘You think this is about land?This is about survival.My father left me with nothing but debts and enemies when he died.’
‘You killed your own father,’ Porter said flatly.‘I know you did.I found the rifle you used, too.’
‘Bull.’
‘Old rifle in the mud by the waterhole.Got your name engraved on it and everything.It’s why we’re here… Go on, be a man and admit it.’
‘Fine.’He stuck out his grubby chin.‘That old bastard had it coming.He should’ve just signed off on the loan—cleared my debt.But no.He just rambled on about how this land hadn’t carried a mortgage in generations.The Dixby family legacy...So what was I to him, then?’Sawyer shook his head, with a bitter snarl curling his lip.‘I was just the overseer who didn’t have a say in anything.The head stockman carried more weight than me around here.’
Sawyer then peered around with his face screwed up as if smelling something foul.‘There wasn’t even a bloody will,’ he muttered.‘Not that I saw.Everything just defaulted to Mum—the wife.She walked away with the lot.Moved into town like the bloody queen and left the station to rot.She was the one who shut the gates and locked me out.’
Porter snorted.‘Mate, you were the one playing ghost.You made out to the world you were the one missing.’
Sawyer shifted on the dirt, wrists flexing in the zip ties.‘Missing?No.I was working.This land’s mine—I just needed proof.’
Porter didn’t buy it.Seery hadn’t just gone bush to dig holes, he’d been hiding.Most likely from debt collectors, the kind who’d happily fill those holes for him.
Sawyer’s gaze focused on the ground, head slowly shaking.‘But if I’d found that deed, this land would’ve been mine.I’d then sell it to pay back debts, and leave.’
‘What about your mother?’Porter liked Tilly.
‘What about her?’Sawyer’s voice held no remorse.Even with his lip swelling, with blood drying from his nose, he was as cold as his light blue eyes.
Finn briskly asked, ‘And the horse—Lot 728?You stole it to trade off the debt?’
‘It was never meant to go to auction.Red was supposed to intercept it—swap the ID and reroute it, like we did with all the other stock.But someone put it on the auction list.’
Finn froze.‘As in GradyRedGalloway?The Stock Agent?’
Sawyer gave a slow, greasy smile.‘Yeah Don’t get too happy, Red’s just the middleman.But he’s as crooked a stock agent as you’ll ever get.How you lot never noticed, shows you how good he is.’He beamed up at them like a spoiled brat, expecting some adult to pat him on the head.
‘So I’m guessing if Red is that clever,’ said Finn, ‘he’d have his arse well and truly covered, where he’ll just let you take the fall.It’ll be your word against his—and with the evidence we have against you, Sawyer, it’ll all fall on you.That’s enough for an early retirement in a comfy six-by-nine concrete room with bars for that cosy window view.’
That wiped off the smile off Sawyer’s face.
‘That’s how the game is played.Your work for Red—’
Sawyer scowled.‘Only coz Red made a deal with Rickson over my debt, just so I’d play Red’s game.’
‘Which is?’
‘As overseer.Babysitting Red’s livestock, with him only giving me enough to drip-feed Rickson’s interest rates… But then that horse, Lot 728, it was gonna pay it all off.’Sawyer sighed, shaking his head, his shoulders rolling, with hands still tied behind his back.‘But I should have known it was too good a story.Not when Red needs me here… That mongrel sold me out.Told him so at that smancy ball.He was mad at me for stealing that horse back—said it belonged to a cop.’
Porter’s hands curled tight, the anger flaring in his chest.He sneered as he said through gritted teeth, ‘Yeah, it did.’
Marcus dropped a heavy hand on Porter’s shoulder, pulling him back behind him where Porter paced the dirt to reel in his temper.
‘I may be Red’s puppet, but there’s someone higher up pulling Red’s strings.’Sawyer gave a greasy sneer, the chuckle just as oily.
