“I see babies in car number eighteen. The parents are trapped.”
“I have a nurse here. Walking wounded, but she’s trapped in her car. I’m going to stay here and try to get her out. Another set of medically trained hands is crucial. I’ll send her to car eighteen as soon as she’s freed. Heads up, no one is paying the least attention to Jack, his whistle, or the flares. The pileup will continue, and the impacts will have a ripple effect beyond their collision. What’s true now of our headcount and triage will change quickly.
“They’ve got to have it out on the area radio stations,” Creed said.
“Do you know anyone who listens to local radio?” Striker asked. “Incoming, get back from the road!”
The squeal of tires as they locked into place, the sound of treads fighting against the forces of kinetic friction, speed clashed with the slick surface and gravity.
The air smelled thickly of burned rubber and chemicals.
Creed jumped up the embankment. He was too far away to see the impact, but car parts flew into the air and rained back down. The car with the babies was pushed forward.
“Status?” Striker asked.
“They were hit, the kids look fine in their booster seats. This is one for the record books.”
“Who are you working with in operations?”
“Mandy,” Creed replied.
“Have her enter the new coordinates for the vehicle with babies so the nurse can find them.”
A woman’s voice rose in a tone that wanted to be heard by whoever was on the line. “The nurse is called Karen—keep your jokes about my name out of your mouth. Yeah, you need to get me out of here so I can be helpful. Now listen, my church is a few miles from here. I called over there, and they’re bringing in the choir bus. They can park it at the top of the hill and be a dry place for folks to set, while they’re waiting for emergency services to get their butts in gear. Tell your Jack fellow that they’re on the way, and they’ll park in the middle of the goddamned highway if necessary. You can’t ignore a bus. Even a shortie like we’ve got, it’s still big and yellow.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Striker said off the phone. Then he was back, “Creed, I’m out.” And the connection ended.
Creed tapped the call on hold. “Mandy, Creed here.”
“I’m set up on my end. You’re a go.”
Chapter Sixteen
Creed
Looking uphill toward the Iniquus van, the scene reminded Creed of the pictures he’d seen in history books of the great northwest, where the loggers would roll the felled trees into the river, floating them from the forests to the lumber mills. Sometimes, things went awry, and the logs jammed up, piled up, and kept coming.
He’d always thought that it was where loggerhead came from, logs that came to a head and couldn’t move farther. He was disappointed that it was the name of a turtle.
Moving forward on his assigned task, Creed could see the bridge now. There was the pile-up of cars, and above that, he could just make out Auralia’s car over the edge.
Creed took a picture and spread it wide to see the details more clearly.
Auralia was inside. He could see the top of her head.
The car looked stable. “Mandy, I’m sending you a picture of a car balanced on the bridge. Can you have the engineers assess the situation and get back to me ASAP? Single female, twenty-five, Auralia Rochambeau. Mandy,” he paused as his heart galloped; he didn’t want emotion to color his words, “it’s Gator’s sister.”
“On it,” Mandy said.
In Creed’s experience, an “on it” from any of the teams that supported operators in the field was swift and comprehensive. Iniquus employed the best of the best because their bread and butter was saving lives. The lives they saved first were those that sheltered under the Iniquus employee blanket. LabelingAuralia as Gator’s sister meant every resource available would be pressed into play. Creed had to be patient as the cogs moved into place. “Mandy, give an update to Gator’s support to loop him in. Make sure he knows Auralia isnotinjured.”
“Not injured. Wilco,” she said as Creed was distracted by, “Striker here.”
“Mandy, I’m putting you on hold, Striker’s in my ear.”
“Standing by.”
Creed tapped the button on his phone and dropped the plastic case to his chest as he pressed his sternal button to open his mic. “Creed.”
