Page 86 of High Density

“Who has access to your truck?” He wants to know next.

“I do. I may leave it unlocked when I’m on a call somewhere, but then I carry my bag with me.”

“You had it with you at the rodeo?”

I nod. “Yes.”

“Had your eyes on it at all times?”

“Well…”

I can’t exactly make that claim. Things were crazy busy at times, and I guess someone could’ve grabbed something out of there without me noticing.

“Where’s the bag now?”

I’m already heading outside where my truck is parked, Ewing right on my heels. My heart is lodged in my throat as I unlock the cover on the back and pull out my kit. Setting it on the tailgate, I flip it open and rummage through. When I come up with only one single vial of ketamine, my heart sinks down to my stomach.

Oh my God.

I feel all the blood drain from my face.

The thought I might have in any way—however remotely—been connected to the deaths of those poor women makes me sick to my stomach.

“You’re sure you did not use the other vial,” Ewing prompts.

“Positive,” I whisper.

“And you didn’t see anyone near your bag.”

At the rodeo, it could’ve been anyone. One of Mackey’s hands, any of the participants, heck, even someone in the public deciding to have a closer look. There were plenty of those, which was the whole purpose of Jericho putting me at the front of the stockyards.

I shrug my shoulders. “Not that I recall. Either Logan or JD were with me most of the time. They would’ve seen and said something.”

“I’ll have to talk to them both. When is Logan supposed to be here?”

“I told him this week he could come in around noon, because he put in a lot of hours covering for me both here and at the rodeo last week.”

“I’ll track both of them down this morning. In the meantime, do me a favor and keep your damn bag with you at all times.”

With that, he stalks back to his cruiser still parked in front of my house.

I grab my kit, close the gate on my truck, and head back into the clinic.

JD

“You’re kidding.”

“Not even a little bit,” I tell Jonas.

He hopped in my truck after we loaded up the horses to head over to Foxy’s Bar, and asked for an update. I’ve just filled him in on the early morning law enforcement visit, and the evidence they discovered suggesting I was involved.

The fact Jonas doesn’t even stop to entertain the possibility I might have had something to do with these crimes makes me feel a little better. Despite realizing neither Ewing or Stephanie Kramer really believes in my involvement, their line of questioning had left me shaken up. Adding to my unease is the fact someone went through a lot of trouble to implicate me, possibly going so far as to snatch an innocent woman because of her connection to me.

That’s the part that makes me sick to my stomach. Because even if we are able to find her alive, I will always carry some responsibility for what happened to her.

“Let me give fucking Junior a piece of my mind,” Jonas grumbles, retrieving his phone from a pocket.

I stop him. “Don’t. Don’t distract him from catching the bastard who is doing this. That’s where his focus should be.”

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