Three hours. So much can happen in three hours.
“He had enough Ketamine in his system to drop a small pony.”
The vet’s statement confirmed what Coop suspected. Someone wanted Jack out of the picture. “Will he be all right?”
“I think so. We’re giving him something to counter it. I’ll know more when he starts coming around. Will have to keep him here a couple of days for observation.”
“Thanks, Dr. Adkins. Let me know when I can bring him home.”
“Will do.”
“Puckett took an extra hour for lunch today.” JD’s voice took on a note of censure. “Supposedly to visit a client. He’s back in the office now.” Face devoid of expression, he looked at Coop. “Bill’s not home. Went by Alice’s place just in case, but she hasn’t seen him. Anson had a meeting in Texarkana today, and he won’t be back until later this afternoon.”
“Did you check with Ruby? See if she talked to Bill?”
“Yeah. Hasn’t seen him.” He paused. “Jack gonna be all right?”
“Looks like it.”
Jimmy shook his head. “How did he drug him?”
“Had to be his food or water. My guess is the water. Make sure you get a sample of it.” Coop’s fists clenched as he surveyed the activity. One deputy processed Sam’s truck, while another walked the yard. “The house was locked when I got here, so whatever happened, happened out here.” He looked down at the gravel drive. “Not likely to get anything useful.”
“You’ll find her, Coop.”
JD’s firm conviction failed to remove the sense of impending doom enveloping him like a shawl.
Jimmy glanced down, then back up. “We got nothing off the truck so far. Lots of prints from the back door, but probably gonna be y’alls. No signs of a struggle, though, just her stuff in the front seat.”
“So, if she left with someone, it was willingly. Someone she knew?”
“Unless he forced her with a weapon.”
Coop couldn’t bear the thought, but knew it was a logical assumption. “Okay, let’s –” The sudden ring of his phone stopped the conversation. “Delaney.”
“Sheriff Delaney? This is Miriam Arnold.”
“Mrs. Arnold, I -”
Miriam cut him off. “My husband went out to make some deliveries this morning and isn’t back yet. Doesn’t answer his cell phone, either.”
Coop closed his eyes and silently prayed for patience. “There’s lots of areas in the county with poor reception.”
“I know that,” she snapped, “he had three deliveries to make. I’ve already called two and he finished with them by 11:30. Your house was the last one, and no one answers the damn phone.”
Coop kept his voice neutral even as his heart rate accelerated. “What time would he have made a delivery to the house?”
“He left the Pruitt’s at 11:30 so probably around noon.”
Coop jerked upright. Maybe Arnold saw something. “What time did you last talk with him, Mrs. Arnold?”
A voice called to her in the background.
“Never mind. He just walked in. Where the hell have you been?”
The line went dead before Coop got an answer. He stuffed the phone in his pocket, and headed toward the Bronco. “Frank Arnold was supposedly here around noon. He just got back to the store. Maybe he saw something.”
JD followed behind him as Coop got in and started the engine.
“Uh, Sheriff? You want me to talk to him?”
Coop knew the unspoken reason for the question. He was too close to the case. Too damn bad. “No. Stay here until they finish. And I want to talk to Anson and Billy Ray as soon as they show up.”
“Roger that.”
Twenty minutes later, Coop sat at his desk as Frank Arnold fidgeted in front of him. Miriam stood rigid as a poplar behind him, arms folded across her ample bosom, one toe tapping the floor.
“Thanks for coming in on such short notice, Frank.” Coop kept his voice calm though his chest ached with anxiety. “I’m hoping you can help me figure something out.”
Frank rolled his shoulders as sweat popped out on his brow. Long fingers flexed as they curled and uncurled at his side. “L-like what?”
“You were at my house today.”
Frank’s eyes widened as he glanced at Coop, then focused on something over his shoulder. “I h-had a delivery f-for S-Sam.”
