Brothers in Blood Read Free Page A

?”
    â€œJD Byrnes.”
    â€œI don’t know who you speak about.”
    â€œLet’s get things clear. I am a US Deputy Marshal and I want to speak to this man.” He showed him his badge.
    â€œOh, I am sorry, but he is not here.”
    â€œThen find him. I’ll be back in an hour and I want him here. If he isn’t, there’ll be a federal grand jury here to see how this jail is operated.”
    â€œHow can I find someone who isn’t here, señor ?”
    â€œHe’s here. Get to cutting.”
    The man turned his palms up. “I can do nothing.”
    Chet and Cole turned and left the courthouse. Fired up and angry, Chet went to find the lawyer who had represented JD. His office was in a small room in the alley behind a mercantile store.
    Chet pushed in the door. A young man seated behind the desk jumped at the sight of him, and almost knocked over a green desk lamp.
    â€œJosh Raines?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œChet Byrnes. Where is JD Byrnes?”
    â€œWhy? Why? In the county jail.”
    â€œThey say he isn’t there. How can I find him?” He was fast growing weary of all this double talk.
    â€œDid you speak to the sheriff?”
    â€œNo. He won’t be here for a week.”
    â€œWhere did he go?” Raines asked.
    â€œWho knows? They’re dumb down at that courthouse. I want to speak to my nephew. What can you do?”
    â€œI guess go and demand they let us see him.”
    Chet pointed his finger like a pistol. “Get your ass up and I’ll accompany you down there.”
    Raines blew out the lamp and put his coat on going out the door. “You have to realize this isn’t Texas. They don’t do things here like they do there.”
    â€œWe are in the United States, aren’t we?”
    â€œA territory. Yes.”
    â€œWas his trial in Spanish?”
    â€œIt was—but that is usual here.”
    â€œWill that hold up in the territory appeals court?”
    â€œProbably.”
    Chet double-stepped the lawyer toward the courthouse in the dust-biting wind.
    â€œYour client was not Mexican. Was he provided a translator?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œGood, because I’ve hired the most powerful law agency in Santa Fe and I expect you to support them. Where are those horses? What did they do with them? I want them returned and examined. We’ll find their owners.”
    â€œI don’t know if we can do that.”
    â€œWhy in the hell not?”
    â€œI think they were sold.”
    â€œBy bid?”
    Raines shrugged. “No, just sold.”
    â€œThen the sheriff benefited from this frame-up, didn’t he?”
    â€œYou’re saying he did this to sell those horses?”
    â€œHe sold the horses. Right?”
    By this time, they were inside the courthouse lobby and Chet cut off his questioning.
    Ahead of him, Raines walked into the sheriff’s outer office first, and the deputy frowned at him. “What are you here for?”
    â€œI came to speak to my client, JD Byrnes.”
    â€œHe ain’t got no business to talk to you about.”
    â€œDiego, go get him.”
    â€œI don’t work for you or that gringo behind you.”
    â€œI am his attorney, and you can’t deny me talking to my client.”
    â€œGet out of here or I’ll arrest both of you.”
    â€œWhere is the sheriff?”
    â€œHe is not available.”
    â€œTell Hernandez to come see me. The State Attorney General is coming from Santa Fe to talk to him, and he can be prosecuted if he is found failing to uphold the laws of the territory and nation.”
    â€œWhat can that bastardo do?” the deputy asked, motioning toward Chet.
    â€œThey can charge Hernandez and try him in court.”
    â€œHe is the sheriff. They can’t do that.”
    â€œDiego, there are higher men than a county sheriff. Tell him we need to talk before the State Attorney General gets