“All right, kid. Let’s get you out of here,” he soothed as he struggled with the buckles on the car seat, trying to free the baby. After fighting the snaps and straps, he reached in to pick up the child. Jake had little experience with babies. He was due to be an uncle for the first time next spring, but his only real contact with them had been friends’ babies, and that had been very limited.
Holding the baby close to his body with one hand, he retrieved the blanket, still sitting in the car seat with the other. Then, with a death grip on the child, he carefully made his way up the small hill. Aid still hadn’t arrived, but he heard sirens approaching.
He waited in his patrol car, soothing the baby, trying to keep him from crying. He called dispatch to tell them there was one “possible” at the scene. That was their code for a possible fatality. Jake knew it was more than possible, but he had to wait for aid to make the call for sure.
The information put dispatch on alert that this was more than just a one-car accident. They would take over the logistics and follow procedures for what to do in the event of a serious accident. Jake’s sergeant wasn’t scheduled to sign in for another hour, but dispatch would call him out early to respond to the scene. Since it was only a one-car, they probably wouldn’t need the collision team.
The baby was standing on Jake’s legs, and Jake held him around the chest while he bounced his little legs up and down. “Hey, buddy. How old are you? Can you talk yet? Or walk?” He was probably way too young to do either, but Jake was just making conversation and didn’t expect an answer. The baby looked at Jake and made a grab for the badge pinned to his chest. Of course, it was shiny. And didn’t all babies love shiny things?
Jake searched for something to entertain the child with. He picked up the small red ball sitting on the passenger seat. It was one of those stress relief balls, but Jake used it for a forearm workout. The boy clamped onto the ball with both hands and immediately put it to his mouth. It didn’t fit, so it wasn’t a choking hazard, but Jake wondered how sanitary it was to let the baby put his tongue on the thing.
He flipped the baby around, sat him on his lap, and tried to distract him with something else. “Hey, kid, you wanna drive?”
Jake hoisted him to a standing position, and the baby put his hands on the top of the steering wheel to balance. He was oblivious to the trauma that had occurred just over the embankment. Clueless that he’d just lost his dad. Jake grew up without a father, and his heart ached for the little guy. He would have no memories of his dad. At least Jake had that.
Aid arrived, and one of the paramedics took the baby from Jake, while the others started down the hill to check on the man in the car.
Jake pulled the registration out of his pocket and used his in-car computer to run the license plate. Then he ran the driver’s license associated with the registered owner. When the man’s picture popped up onto his screen, he had the same reaction he’d had down at the car. Except for the fact that the man had blue eyes instead of green and his nose was slightly larger, Jake could have been looking at a picture of himself.
“Bradley Arthur DeWitt,” said Jake. “Sorry, man. Guess today was your day.”
One of the paramedics knocked on Jake’s window to confirm the subject was deceased. Jake nodded and called dispatch to update them. This changed their protocol a little, mainly just to slow everything down. Now, instead of rushing to save someone’s life, they would be meticulous in documenting what had happened. It meant more paperwork for Jake, but that was the least of his worries.
Jake’s sergeant, Troy, arrived on the scene within twenty minutes.
“Let’s go do the notification now. I’ll have Walsh and Jennings start the tech work. Once we drop off the baby, you can come back and finish it,” he said.
“Sounds good.” Normally, they would wait, but getting the baby home was top priority right now. And they couldn’t very well return the baby without an explanation.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Within an hour of the collision, Jake and Troy were standing on the porch of the man’s last known address. The baby was strapped into the car seat they’d taken from the demolished SUV and installed in the back of Troy’s patrol car. Since the car was parked just a few feet from the front door, the baby would be safe staying there until they assessed the situation. Hopefully, there would be someone home they could tell and release the baby to.
He knocked on the door and took a deep breath. He hated this part of the job. A pretty brunette, dressed in exercise pants, answered the door. The smile on her face fell immediately when she saw them. Troopers on your doorstep was never a good thing, and she knew it.
“Ma’am, I’m Trooper Jake MacDonald, and this is my sergeant, Troy Wright. Do you know Bradley DeWitt?” He held up the man’s driver’s license.
“Yes. He’s my husband. What’s happened?”
“He was in an accident this morning and died at the scene. I’m very sorry.” Having done several of these over the years, he’d learned you couldn’t sugarcoat it, couldn’t drag it out, and couldn’t use euphemisms for death. You had to be very clear and honest, no matter how harsh it sounded. It was worse to keep them guessing and hoping.
She froze for a moment, taking in what he’d said, and then crumpled into herself. “No. No,” she kept repeating over and over, louder and louder. It ripped Jake’s heart out, but he remained stoic.
“I’m very sorry, ma’am,” he repeated, putting a hand on her shoulder. Every time he had to do this, he prepared himself for a different reaction to the news. Some people wanted to hug you, some lashed out to hit you, some didn’t believe it, some yelled and screamed, some just cried, and some seemed unaffected. He took it all in stride.
Tears fell freely down her face, and she hugged herself like she was holding in her insides so they wouldn’t spill out. She looked up with wide eyes and grabbed Jake’s arm. “My baby?” she sobbed.
“The baby’s fine,” Troy interjected. “He’s in the car. I’ll go get him as soon as you’re ready.”
The woman nodded and attempted to pull herself together, sniffing and wiping her nose with the end of her shirt.
Troy retrieved the baby, still in the car seat, and carried it inside for her. After releasing him from the car seat, she hugged him tightly, muttering thanks to God that he was unhurt.
“Is there anyone we can call to come be with you?” Jake asked. At her bidding, they called her mother and explained the situation. Then they waited awkwardly for the mother to show up before offering more condolences and leaving behind a business card. She could deal with the logistics of the body and the car when she was ready.
The rest of the day was a blur of paperwork, which meant sitting in the squad room for hours, leaving only to grab some takeout lunch.
Finally, home and off duty, Jake parked in front of the house, turned off the ignition, and then just sat there. He couldn’t face Hannah until he’d pulled himself together. He’d come to expect and accept seeing dead people. That wasn’t what had him upset. What rattled him were the similarities between Bradley and himself. It started him thinking about his own mortality. And life choices.
