Page 62 of Rough Stock

‘It was Wraith who put Craig in the hospital.’ She may have had horrible thoughts of putting down that beast when she’d first heard what it had done to Craig, but now she felt sorry for all of them.

‘I heard Craig’s injury was bad.’

‘You weren’t at the rodeo?’

‘Haven’t been to one for a long time.’

Izzy sipped on her water, trying to understand the situation, while trying not to obsess over her kidnapping. Keeping a conversation going would help to answer the questions she had as well as prevent her panicking—if she kept her focus. ‘What I don’t get is if you’ve sold your place to Everlight, why are you still living here, keeping that livestock?’

‘I need the money.’

‘Excuse me? You’ve just sold your property.’

‘Once I paid my debts off, I had little left over.’

‘You sold your property too cheap. Not that it’s your fault, because Everlight is notorious for doing that with lots of other landowners.’

‘Yeah, I know I got conned. But I was desperate.’

‘Why?’

He shrugged.

‘Who am I going to tell? And I doubt Renzo will let me see the stars again.’

‘How do you know that?’

‘Because I saw Renzo kill my assistant. And Meghan was harmless. All she did was carry my folders to my car and Renzo…’ She shuddered, wiping away the sweat from her brow, feeling the grit of the outback’s dust against her skin.Do not panic. Stay calm.

‘Yeah, I’ll admit I don’t like the fella much. But that’s business. When you fall in with the wrong people, getting out isn’t always easy—sometimes, you just end up digging yourself in deeper.’

‘What are you going to do with the cattle? It’s obvious you did something to them.’ She pointed to the metal trolley of horrors.

‘They weren’t hurt. I made sure of that.’

‘What did they do?’

‘The techie came and took sperm, eggs, and DNA samples.’

‘Why DNA?’

‘It was more of a simple skin biopsy and some blood samples, for cloning.’ Dane pointed to the heavy-duty gas bottles. ‘Those cryogenic canisters make it easy to smuggle them out of the Territory, easier than trying to shift a fully grown bull around. The stock agent called it bio-smuggling, or genetic livestock smuggling, I think.’ Dane casually sipped on his mug, leaning back on his chair as if it was a morning smoko break.

‘Is that why you took Wraith?’ Who was a gorgeously proud looking beast—but she failed to see how it all connected to Everlight?

‘You can trace Wraith’s genes back a while. Like the heifers, they’re a genetic investment for their breeding potential, because they come from a very particular gene pool of successful rodeo bulls. And that’s big bickies.’

A lump rose in Izzy’s throat for the poor stolen animals and their uncertain fate. ‘What are you going to do with them now?’

‘I’ll be letting Wraith and the heifers go.’

She blinked a few times, not expecting that response. ‘Why?’

‘The techie is done with them. Those beasts are branded, so I won’t get far with them, that’s for sure. I’ll leave the gate open and maybe someone will find them.’

It made her wonder if Everlight was actually involved—or if their name was just being used as a convenient cover. Had the tenants simply taken advantage of the vacant property, or was there more to it? ‘And the calves?’

‘They’re cleanskins.’

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