Pushing Up Bluebonnets

much-needed caffeine and watch Cooper work. I was certain I'd learn a lot.

'I don't know what happened to her parents,' Dugan said. 'I don't believe she knew, either.'

I blinked at this answer. What the heck did that mean? 'Where did she grow up?' I asked.

Dugan's tongue traveled over his lips and he took a sip of coffee. He then stared into the steaming cup he held with both hands. No wedding ring, I noted. 'Elizabeth and I . . . we didn't know each other that good when it came to our pasts. We agreed it wasn't important. We loved each other and that's all that mattered.'

Cooper leaned in again. 'What kind of bullshit answer is that?'

From the corner of my eye I caught Jeff's expression as he filled cups for the two of us. Small grin. He liked Cooper's style.

Meanwhile, Dugan's magazine-ad face tensed. He avoided Cooper's hard stare by stirring sugar into his coffee. 'She wouldn't want me telling you, but I guess you won't let me see her until I do. Elizabeth was adopted and it wasn't a good situation. She wanted to forget. That's all I know.'

Cooper smiled. 'Thank you. Where'd you meet her?'

'What does that have to do with anything?' Dugan looked at me, perhaps to avoid Cooper's unblinking attention.

But Cooper wasn't letting him off the hook. 'I ask, you answer. Then it's your turn, okay?' Pleasantly spoken, but no question. Cooper wasn't fooling around.

'At community college. San Jacinto.' Dugan's reply was clipped. He was getting impatient now.

Cooper reminded me of a sculptor chipping away at stone. I could recognize the personality now emerging, the one Roberta had described. Dugan had no control here and he hated it.

'Any children?' Cooper asked.

'No.' More edginess in his tone now.

'She never contacted you after she left? Not once?' Cooper pressed.

Dugan shook his head, and I decided he was trying to recapture the concern he'd displayed when he arrived. 'I would have notified the police if she had. But I always knew she'd come back. And in her own way, she has.'

'Not exactly her own way,' I said, holding the coffee Jeff had given me. He was settled in the chair next to me now. I was afraid Cooper might be pissed off by me voicing my opinion, but his passive face gave nothing away.

'Can I ask why you're questioning me like this? What have I done wrong?' Dugan said.

'What do you do for a living?' Cooper said, ignoring this request to get off the hot seat.

'I'm a consultant,' he replied.

Cooper leaned back, sipped his black coffee. 'Really? Sounds important. You have a business card I could have?'

'I didn't bring any with me. I didn't think I'd need one.' Testy again. There was a real struggle going on in this guy's head.

I glanced at Jeff because the tension seemed like a balloon around us ready to burst and I wondered if he felt it, too. But he was as calm as a plate of oysters, probably loving every minute of watching someone else interrogate a man whose emotions were all over the map.

'What kind of consultant? Suit-and-tie kind with one of those big firms?' Cooper asked.

'I'm freelance. I work from home.'

Cooper smiled again, cocked his head. 'Doing what?'

Dugan stood. 'That's enough. I want to see my wife right now.'

Cooper and Jeff slowly rose in unison, like they'd been a team for years. I stayed in my chair, amazed at how intimidating Cooper could be without ever raising his voice.

'I'm sure you do want to see her. Sorry about the delay, but this is a very active investigation. Attempted murder gets a police officer's attention. Let me see whether her nurse thinks this is a good time for a visit.' Cooper took his time walking over to the double doors.

'You must have been surprised to get a call about your wife after all this time,' Jeff said. He'd finished his coffee in no time and didn't bother offering Dugan a stick when he pulled the Big Red pack from his jeans pocket.

'I was more upset than anything. She's hurt and she needs me. I wish I could have been here the minute they brought her in.' Dugan had regrouped. He was about to get his way and that apparently made a huge difference in his demeanor.

'Oh, I'm sure you do wish you could have been around.' Jeff's tiny dose of sarcasm was lost on Dugan but not on me.

I've learned from Jeff that relatives are usually the first suspects in a murder or assault and I was guessing he and Cooper quickly pegged Dugan for the not-sonice guy Roberta had described.

Cooper gestured for Kent Dugan to come to the ICU doors and he strode quickly in that direction.

Jeff and I stayed back. As soon as the door closed behind them, Jeff pulled out his phone. I looked at him, puzzled, but he just chewed his gum.

He speed-dialed, waited a second, then said, 'This is Sergeant Jeff Kline from Homicide Division. Can you run a name for priors?' A short silence, then Jeff said, 'Thanks. See if we have a sheet on a Kent Dugan.' He spelled the last name. 'I'll wait.'

'You think he's been arrested?' I said.

'Hang on, Abby. This won't take long.' And he was right—a moment later he said, 'Appreciate it.' Jeff snapped his phone closed. 'Hot checks, petty theft and a fraud charge Dugan pleaded out. Guy's done no time, though. Probably talked his way out of everything.'

'How'd you know to make that call?' I sipped my coffee, but it had gone nearly cold in the frigid waiting room. I set it on the table.

Jeff fixed a strand of my hair behind my ear. 'Honest people don't get vague with the police about simple stuff like family history. They usually talk too much. Believe me, I've learned some dirt during interviews that I didn't need or want to know. Dugan was evasive about his wife and himself. To me, that says he knows a lot more than he's saying. Something's definitely hinky.'

I nodded in agreement.

'Your friend Cooper made him right off the bat,' Jeff said.

I said, 'But at times, Dugan seemed genuinely concerned about JoLynn or Elizabeth or whatever her real name is.'

'Concerned, yes, but maybe not for her welfare. Continuing to dig around for that girl's story is a good idea.' He drew me to him and whispered, 'Now, here's my good idea. Why don't you and I—'

Cooper had sneaked up on us and now cleared his throat. Jeff and I stepped away from each other.

'What happened in there?' I asked.

'He picked up her hand, seemed shaken by her appearance. Could have been an act. The staff has questions for him—name, address, phone number, and of course they told him he's got a date with the billing department. He'll be out in a second.'

I said, 'You look puzzled. What are you thinking?'

'There's something else going on here,' Cooper said.

'That's what I thought.' Jeff told him about Dugan's rap sheet.

'Thanks for running the background. He's a damn paper hanger?'

I must have looked confused because Jeff said, 'That's what we call the hot-check writers.'

'And petty theft? Fraud? Those are little-girl crimes, all of them,' Cooper said with disgust.

Just then, Kent Dugan and a woman in scrubs emerged from the neuro ICU and the two of them came over to us.

'Shelly Young,' the woman said. 'I'm Miss Richter's private-duty nurse tonight. Mr. Dugan is unable to help me concerning his wife's medical history and says there's no other family to give us what we need. Do any of you have information about her previous heart surgery? Or know someone who does? The physician can't disturb her medical coma to figure out what kind of repair she had, but she might require medication, even though her EKG shows a strong, healthy heart.'