Naomi leaves home at 6:50 pm. As planned, she calls King on her cell phone to let him know she is on her way to book club.
“Are you still sure about this Justin?” she nervously asks.
“Yes, everything is planned out.”
“Justin, I’m very scared. I was shaking as I drove out of our cul-de-sac.”
“Just calm down Naomi, you need to act like nothing is unusual tonight. Remember to call me before coming home and I will let you know if it is okay to return. Just don’t text me.”
“Yes, I know,” says Naomi as she exhales a deep breath.
“Now just go to your club meeting and try to relax. Talk to you later,” says Cooper.
After Naomi’s phone call, King knows he is clear to go to Cooper’s home to take care of business. He goes to his briefcase and removes the Smith and Wesson revolver he took from Cooper’s bookshelf. He opens the cylinder and is reminded he still has to load it. King goes into his bedroom and retrieves a box of .38 caliber bullets next to his own Ruger 6 shot revolver from the top drawer of his dresser. King also owns a Glock semi-auto .40 caliber handgun. This would be his preferred choice of gun, but he needs to use Cooper’s gun for the mock suicide. Cooper’s gun will more than do the job.
King opens the box and removes five .38 caliber hollow point bullets from the box. Hollow points are better, as they cause more damage to the body. He opens the cylinder with his left hand and carefully drops a bullet into each hole of the cylinder with his right hand. He then snaps the cylinder closed and places the gun into the right-hand pocket of his blue nylon windbreaker jacket. He then zips the pocket shut.
King then goes to his bathroom, opens the medicine cabinet, and grabs a small bottle of white tablets. This is the Rohypnol he will use on Cooper. The bottle of tablets goes into his left jacket pocket, which he also zips shut. On his way out the door, King grabs the new bottle of Captain Morgan rum and a pair of latex gloves from the small table in the foyer. He is now ready.
King leaves his home in Lone Tree at approximately 7:05 pm driving his silver BMW four-door sedan. He arrives at the entrance of Sandy Lane at 7:25 pm and parks his car on the cross street of Oak Avenue about fifty feet from the corner. King does not want any of the neighbors to see his car in Cooper's driveway or parked out front. The homes on Sandy Lane sit on spacious lots with an abundance of trees and are set back from the road a good 100 feet. He walks the eighth of a mile down Sandy Lane to Coopers’ home at the end of the cul-de-sac. It is now dusk, so King is hoping none of the neighbors notice him walking.
Cooper answers the door and invites King inside. He doesn’t notice King’s car is not in the driveway. King holds up the bottle of rum and says he will fix them a drink.
Cooper nods in agreement, “that sounds really good right now. What is it you want to discuss?”
“Let’s have a drink first and relax. I just want to go over some details of the project. That will help me determine what resources we will need.”
King mixes two rum and cokes in the kitchen. He does not put any Rohypnol in Cooper’s drink, but he makes Cooper’s strong and his weak. King wants to get Cooper’s blood alcohol level up some before he gives him the drug. He walks into the living area and hands Cooper his drink. Cooper is sitting in one of the tall back leather recliners and King sits in an adjacent recliner with a small round table between them. He then starts talking about the major project in Colorado Springs and what he believes it will entail. After about a half-hour, King grabs Cooper’s empty glass and goes back into the kitchen to mix them another drink.
This time, he not only makes Cooper’s drink strong, but he also puts two tablets of Rohypnol in the glass. He stalls a bit to make sure the tablets are completely dissolved. The carbonation of the coke helps with the process. He then goes back into the living area and hands Cooper his second rum and coke.
King changes the topic for a bit by asking Cooper what he thinks of the Colorado Rockies' chances this year. They talk baseball for about 15 minutes as Cooper enjoys his rum and coke. Cooper then brings the conversation back to business.
“So how many people do you think we will have to hire?” asks Cooper.
“I’m thinking probably ten more electricians with one being a supervisor,” answers King.
“That’s in the same ballpark I was thinking. Have you checked on the supply chain for the wire and components we will need?” Cooper asks.
“If supply remains the way it is now, we will be okay. I’ve given our supplier a heads up and he doesn’t see an issue. Of course, if something goes haywire with copper supply or parts manufacturing, you never know for sure.”
King inquires, “Is there someone here you would like to promote to supervisor, or would you rather bring someone new in.”
Cooper pauses for a minute. “I think, uh….., I’m sorry, what was that again?”
“Do you want to promote someone?”
Cooper hangs his head and shakes it a bit. “Damn, I think I drank, uh, yeah, drank too fast or, eh, something.”
“Let me get you a glass of water.”
Cooper simply nods and grabs the sides of the recliner as if to hold himself upright. The room starts to get blurry. Soon, the room begins to spin.
King brings Cooper a glass of water, knowing it won’t help.
King holds the glass as Cooper tries to drink from it. He gets some in his mouth, but
