Bull Mountain Read Online Free PDF Page A

sounded like an ass for a minute there. It’s automatic. Let me start again.”
    Aspirin wasn’t going to cut it. Clayton fiddled with thechildproof plastic bottle, wondering exactly how many he’d have to eat to get rid of the headache sitting in his office. He expected Holly to stand up, shove a finger in his face, and spout off some self-righteous bullshit about how he “owed it to the people” and “the county he loved” to stop the bad men—blah, blah, blah. That was normally the routine with these guys, but Holly stayed seated. Hewas respectful. Clayton reckoned Holly was at least smart enough to play by the sheriff’s rules until he had his say.
    “I can’t help you,” Clayton said again.
    “I’m not asking for your help, Sheriff.”
    “Then what do you want, Agent Holly?”
    “Call me Simon.”
    “Go ahead and make your speech,
Agent Holly.
”
    “Okay, Sheriff. Like I said, I’m not here for your help, but maybe you canhelp yourself, and that could work out for both of us.”
    Clayton said nothing and scratched at his beard.
    “Maybe if I start from the beginning, I can paint you a better picture of what I’m talking about.”
    “Good idea.”
    “I’ve been with the ATF for two years. In that time, I’ve focused on one case.”
    “I’m guessing Halford Burroughs.”
    “No, your brother didn’t pop up on my radaruntil recently. No, for two years I’ve been building a case against an outfit set up in Jacksonville, Florida, which, among other things, has been supplying your brother and his people with guns—lots of guns. And for the past few years, they have also been your brother’s pipeline to the raw materials he’s using to process methamphetamine.”
    Clayton felt the pressure in his head release. Notmuch, but some.
    “A gentleman by the name of Wilcombe is at the top of the food chain down there. You heard of him?”
    “Nope.”
    “They use some low-rent bikers who call themselves the Jacksonville Jackals to transport the goods. They’re dirtbags, smart and loyal dirtbags, but dirtbags nonetheless. They’ve been at it a long time. I’ve got them in business with your family dating back toyour father’s days of hustling weed in the early seventies. Do you know who I mean?”
    “Nope.” Clayton wasn’t as convincing with that answer.
    “Well, you’re lucky. These people are bad news. They’ve got their hands in some heinous shit. Dope, money, guns, you name it. Recently we’re getting intel that shows them involved in human trafficking as well, and they’re getting bigger and richerfor the effort. Your brother Halford knows these people well. He has intimate knowledge of their entire operation and they trust him implicitly.”
    Everything else Holly was going to say clicked in place before he could say it.
    “You want to flip him.” Clayton almost laughed. “You want Hal to give up your boys in Florida so you can close your case on this Wilcombe fella.”
    “Yes,” Hollysaid.
    “In exchange for what?”
    “Conditional immunity.”
    “What’s the condition?”
    “He opts out of the meth trade.”
    “It won’t happen,” Clayton said. “Halford isn’t your average drug dealer. It’s against his warped sense of honor. He’d die before turning over on anyone he considers family. If these bikers have been in bed with my kin for as long as you say, you can bet they fallinto that category. He’d never rat them out. Never.”
    “Well, if his sense of honor is skewed, then we appeal to his other sensibility.”
    “Which is?”
    “His money.”
    “Halford doesn’t care about the money.”
    “Don’t be that naive, Sheriff. The money is paramount. The money is
all
that matters.”
    Clayton shook his head. “No, it’s not, and that’s why you people will always lose, AgentHolly. Because you don’t understand how it works up here. Money isn’t the endgame for my brother. It never was. It’s simply a by-product of the lifestyle my father raised him on.”