Read Online Flash Flood by Susan Slater - Free Book Online Page B

got any problems with that, J.J.?”
    The lawyer looked up from an accordion file on the coffee table, nodded his assent, and went back to pulling out papers. Dan had instantly disliked the man. Italian shoes and a silk shirt which was open just one button too far to show a quarter-inch-thick gold chain. His dark hair, all the same length to below the ear, was combed straight back and plastered into place. His round tortoise shell glasses looked more for show than a prescription for myopic sight. J.J. stood for Juan Jose but that’s as much as he knew; he guessed home was Mexico.
    â€œStart by stating your full name, today’s date, and where this deposition is being taken.”
    While Billy Roland was doing that, Dan opened the file that J.J. had just handed him on Mountain Run’s Cisco Kid. It wasn’t like no one was cooperating; he was bowled over by the eagerness of both Billy R. and his lawyer. Made Dan think there might be some honest to God remorse at work here—at least in regard to the Cisco Kid.
    Dan pulled an advertisement and attached bill of sale from the folder.
    â€œLet’s start with where and when you bought the Cisco Kid.”
    â€œSeptember 23, 1998, from Cecil Tucker Farms, Green Valley, Arizona.”
    â€œAsking price and price paid?”
    â€œI, uh, Hank, you want to intercede here, explain to Dan what the circumstances were at that time?” Hank started to step forward.
    J.J. pushed the file folder aside. “I didn’t hear any questions from Mr. Mahoney.” He scrutinized Dan. “Are there any?”
    â€œI suppose there should be. Asking price for a six-month-old bull calf, seventy-five hundred dollars and price paid, fifty-five hundred—amount insured, two hundred thousand at eighteen months and six hundred thousand at age four. My question for the record is, what takes the worth of a bull calf from fifty-five hundred to six hundred thousand in under four years?”
    â€œBecause there were some medical issues at the time of purchase that impacted price. Hank, scoot a chair on up here and talk into this thing.” Billy Roland pushed his own chair out of the way.
    Hank, looking like he’d just buried his best friend—which might be the truth, Dan thought—pulled his chair closer to the desk. Without his customary hat, his curly dark blond hair made him look young, vulnerable even.
    â€œWhen I first examined Mountain Run’s Cisco Kid at approximately six months of age, he appeared to be Cryptorchid.”
    â€œCryptorchid or Monorchid, because it says here—”
    â€œLet me finish. Originally, Cryptorchid. There were no testicles in the scrotal sac. But it was observed that under stimulation, one testicle would descend. It was also determined at that time that Cisco Kid had viable sperm being produced in both testicles.”
    â€œBut this would still be considered a serious fault? Something highly suspect as a genetic factor, and definitely something you wouldn’t want in your herd?” Dan asked.
    â€œTrue. But Mr. Eklund and I were convinced that an illness suffered soon after weaning might have caused the condition. In short, the only thing that we’ve done wrong—against show rules, that is—is operate and surgically tighten the ring that keeps those testicles outside the body cavity.”
    â€œThat’s illegal?” Dan said.
    â€œAgainst show rules. But who’s going to find a half-inch suture scar on that part of a bull’s anatomy. Who’s going to even look for one?”
    â€œSo, in yesterday’s show, the judge could have dismissed the bull if such a scar had been found?”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œHas Cisco Kid’s ability to sire been tested?”
    â€œHe has five on the ground from last spring and we’re expecting ten come April next. Quality of offspring helped get us insured by United Life and Casualty. He was outstanding,