Page 82 of High Density

“One-hundred-percent,” I snap back. Then I look from the agent to Ewing. “I can’t believe you would even entertain something so ridiculous.”

“We went by the trailer this morning,” the sheriff volunteers, looking at JD over my shoulder. “To ask you a few questions. See if maybe you’d seen or heard anything.”

“I stopped by my place after work to pick up a few things before I came here, but that was before six last night.”

Stephanie Kramer pulls a plastic baggie from her pocket with an empty vial inside. One I recognize immediately.

“Then perhaps you can explain how this ended up next to your front steps?”

“What is that?” JD asks.

“Ketamine,” I whisper, as my mind spins.

JD

“Maggie Aldridge,Jennifer Wilson, and Lacey Del Franco all had ketamine in their system. Lacey Del Franco also had the broken needle of a syringe embedded in her neck,” Ewing explains.

A cold fist squeezes my chest. I hear the words, but I’m having trouble processing them.

“You happened to be the one to find two out of the three known victims, and are intimately familiar with a possible fourth. We found the empty vial of ketamine at your trailer.You’ve been spending a lot of time with Doc Richards, and would’ve had relatively easy access to the drug. All of it is pointing to you. Unless you have some explanation?” Stephanie Kramer lays it out in a gentler tone.

It’s like my mouth is glued shut. It feels like a noose tightening around my neck, even though I had absolutely nothing to do with this.

“Are his fingerprints on the vial?” Janey asks sharply.

“No fingerprints,” Ewing admits before adding, “but he could’ve worn gloves.”

“Careful enough to wear gloves, only to toss the vial in his front yard? This is such bullshit!” Janey reacts forcefully. “And the worst part is, you both know it. I can see it in your faces. You can’t possibly believe what you’re suggesting.”

Stephanie puts up her hands. “We’re not suggesting anything. We’re investigating leads, and at this point what we have is leading us here.”

“He’s being set up,” Janey protests. “Surely you can see that.”

Feeling crowded in the small hallway, I slip out from behind Janey, turn my back on the group, and walk into the living room. The pressure on my chest releases a bit and I’m able to take in a deep breath.

“Do you have any enemies?” I hear Stephanie ask behind me.

I turn to face her.

“I would’ve said no prior to last week, but I know Phil Jericho didn’t like me around Janey. He wasn’t exactly a fan,” I suggest. “The only problem with Jericho is that I doubt he knew of my existence prior to the rodeo and, by that time, the first two victims were already dead. Plus, he’s in custody, so he couldn’t have been responsible for Britt’s disappearance.”

“Maybe he has someone helping him?” Janey proposes, sidling up to me.

She’s reaching, even as she anchors herself to my side. I’m not sure whether it’s for her benefit or mine, but I’m grateful for the unconditional support.

“Considering Jericho for these murders is a bit of a stretch,” Stephanie Kramer states. “First of all, he’s too smart. I can’t see him risk drawing that kind of negative attention to the rodeo. He’s got too much invested in his drug trafficking operation to jeopardize it by drawing in law enforcement. And that’s aside from the fact the first two victims were found prior and weren’t related to the event in any way.”

No matter how hard I think about it, I can’t imagine anyone hating me enough to try and frame me for murder.

“What if it isn’t something personal at all?” I suggest. “And I was simply a convenient scapegoat?”

It’s clear my suggestion is met with some doubt, but I push on.

“What if the reason someone hit me over the head when I was poking around the trailers the day of the auction had nothing to do with the drugs? The timing could work with Lacey Del Franco’s disappearance, unless you have witnesses who saw her that Thursday night.”

I catch a glance exchanged between Ewing and the agent, before he faces me.

“Last time anyone saw her was before the auction,” he admits. “Okay, let’s assume you almost stumbled onto something and our perp panicked, hit you over the head, and took off. The issue I have with that is, the attack on you was witnessed by an agent, and law enforcement was on high alert instantly. If anything illegal was going on in that parking lot, we would’ve found it.”

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