The dog pulled against the leash and sniffed the trees and shrubs along the roadside. After checking out two potential bushes, he jerked toward the fence, his tail snapping back and forth. Barking once or twice, he looked at Gabriel and back at the fence.
Frowning, Gabriel wondered what the dog had spotted. “Is there something there, boy?” he asked.
The dog barked twice more and stepped closer to the fence. The full moonlight cast its glimmer on a dark mass. Frowning, Gabriel took a step closer. “What the hell is that?” Another step. He spotted a hand protruding from the blackness. His heart sped up. Kneeling, he realized the black mass was a coat, and he gently pulled it back to find a half-naked woman curled into a fetal position. Her long, dark hair spilled across her face, concealing her features.
“Damn,” he whispered. Is she dead? He touched her arm and she screamed in a low, keening whine. She stirred, her elbow slipped from its normal position, and the broken bone prodded at the skin, threatening to poke through.
Gabriel winced, and his mouth fell open. For a few seconds, he stood, listening to the wretched keening she made, like a cat caught in a trap. Her body convulsed, and thin gulps of air emerged in thick, steamy bursts.
“I’m so sorry.” He glanced at his vehicle and then at the empty landscape around him. He was tempted to yell for help, but no one would hear him. He didn’t want to leave her, but he had no choice. Gabriel laid the coat back across her body, leaving her face uncovered. “I’m going to gol for help. I’ll be right back.”
He sprinted toward the truck with Donner in tow. As he ran, he thought he heard her say something in the midst of her shrieking. What he couldn’t tell. He threw open the door, turned loose of the leash, and grabbed his cell. He punched 911 and waited for an operator to answer.
“I’ve found a badly injured woman who needs an ambulance. I’m on Highway 58 about fifteen miles from Lawton city limits. The woman has at least a broken arm, and she’s bleeding. My name is Gabriel Martin. I’m a firefighter with Lawton Station 17, and I’m going to attend to her wounds until help arrives.” He snapped the phone shut and shoved it into his pocket before shimmying out of his coat and heading back to her.
As he knelt before her again, her scream died to a whimper. “It’s going to be all right,” he said. “I’ve called 911.” He lightly draped the coat atop her shivering body. “My name is Gabriel Martin, and I want to help you.”
He leaned over her. Maddie inched away. She whimpered, watching him through half-closed slits. Considering one of her eyes was almost bruised shut, she was lucky to be able to open it at all. Dark bangs lay matted against her forehead amid dried sweat and blood. As he leaned closer, she scooted farther away, whimpering as pain closed its vise around her arm and ribs. Were they broken?
She’s terrified of me, Gabriel thought, frowning. Nausea rose in the pit of his stomach, and he tasted bile. Shaking his head, he wondered how somebody could have hit a woman. Or worse. “I’m not going to hurt you, I promise. I’m a fireman, and part of my job is helping people like you.”
Maddie shivered violently and sobs wracked her body convulsively. She tried to rise, but quickly tottered and fell. Gabriel reached out and caught her.
“Take it easy.” As she lay in his arms, her breathing quickened as sobs ripped through her body. Her lips parted, and the keening wail started again deep at first, as though from the back of her throat, then shriller. He peered at the huge bruises on her face and saw the thick clots of blood matting the skin around her eyes and at her temples. He exhaled sharply. Hell, he’d seen bodies ripped apart by car accidents, but this—this willful act of violence—tightened every muscle in his body. And that sound, that mournful wail. How could he help her now?
A siren screamed. He drew the blanket around her as he held her close and watched the wisps of her breath disperse in the cold. Her cries faded to whimpers. He heard a car door open and close.
“What have we got?” a burly female EMT asked as she carted a box of medical paraphernalia and set it next to the woman who had, by now, slipped into unconsciousness. As the EMT bent and began checking vitals, Gabriel relayed the few details he knew while hovering over her.
A fire truck pulled up and two fire men got out and stood next to Gabriel, silently watching a procedure they’d all memorized. A third walked up. He was a tall, bulky African American who set his hand on Gabriel’s shoulder.
“You okay?” He looked at Gabriel.
Gabriel nodded at his best friend, Elijah Ramsey. “Yeah. It’s just been a long night.”
Another wailing siren bathed the landscape in reds and blues as a police car pulled up Two cops, David Ferguson and Steve Hansen, got out of the car, walked up to the scene, and looked at the EMTs before approaching the firemen. David nodded at them, bracing his hands on his hips. “What happened?” he asked as he chewed a toothpick.
Gabriel watched the EMTs work on her. “About ten minutes ago, I pulled over to let the dog do his business. Damned if Donner didn’t find her in pretty much the same spot she’s in now.”
David glanced at the woman. “Did you see or hear anything unusual?”
“You mean besides her?” Gabriel retorted. “No. Everything was quiet.”
“Did you see if she had any identification?” David shifted the toothpick to the other side of his mouth.
Gabriel shook his head. “I don’t think she’s got a purse, and her clothes are pretty tattered, so my guess would be no, she doesn’t.”
Steve scratched notes on the pad. Still, when they lapsed into silence, the page was only half-filled. So many questions, no answers. In silence, the small group watched the EMTs load her onto the gurney they set in the ambulance.
“You taking her to Memorial?” Steve called to the EMTs as he flipped his pad closed.
“Yeah,” the driver said. “We’ll compare notes there.”
The four of them watched as the ambulance headed off into the night, blinding them with its red and blue lights, deafening them with its screaming wail.
Steve shook his head. “Looks like it’s going to be a long one.” He tapped his partner’s arm. “Let’s head to the hospital and see what they can tell us.”
As the cruiser drove away, Gabriel stared at the ground where he’d found her. Another fire man, Beck patted his shoulder one last time.
“I’ll see you later.” The fireman cocked a lazy half-smile at Gabriel before heading back to his fire truck and driving away.
In the faint moonlight, he couldn’t even see the impressions in the grass where she’d been, and he was tempted to think of it all as a dream.
Under the cover of night, the ground looked just like all the rest, save for the yellow tape where they’d cordoned off a small section. He knew he’d never forget her face. He just wished he had a name to go with it. At least that way he’d know what to call her in his nightmares.
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When Angels Cry Page 23