She ran ahead and opened the backseat door, then helped Otto position Cassidy inside.
“Paramedic’s been called. I’ll try and get some water into her,” Josie said, climbing in beside Cassidy and slamming the back door.
Otto got into the driver’s seat of Josie’s jeep and aimed the air vents toward the backseat. Josie slowly poured water over the girl’s face. Her body was limp and leaning against Josie’s side. Otto turned the jeep around and headed out to the road to meet up with the paramedic.
“Is that the Harper girl?” he asked.
“Yes. She’s not doing well. Her face is red. Her pulse is rapid, and she’s not opened her eyes since I arrived.”
As Otto maneuvered carefully through the sand, Josie filled him in on the position of Cassidy and the dead body when she arrived.
“Think she found the body and passed out?” he asked.
Josie glanced up and saw Otto looking at her in the rearview mirror. She shook her head in doubt. “What are the odds Cassidy would pick this spot to take a hike on a day like this? She couldn’t have seen anything from the road. I had to climb on the roof of my jeep before I realized something was out there. It’s not like she saw someone and ran to help.”
“Since when did you quit believing in coincidence?”
“My first year on the job.” She looked away from him and tried to pour a trickle of water into Cassidy’s mouth again.
Otto pulled the jeep onto the side of the road as the ambulance made the turn onto Scratchgravel so fast Josie thought it might tip.
“That guy drives like a maniac. I’m gonna cite him for reckless driving after this is all over,” Otto said.
“Cut him a break. He’s just a kid.”
“You were hired on as a kid too, but you didn’t drive like a jackass.”
Thirteen years prior, while he was still chief, Otto had hired Josie as an officer. He had retired as the chief three years ago after a hip replacement surgery and aching knees kept him from doing the job he expected of himself. Josie had applied for the job as chief with Otto’s encouragement and he had been quick to accept her as his boss when she received the promotion.
Marvin Levin hopped out of the ambulance already sweating heavily in his EMS uniform. He had a paunch, and walked as if his belly slowed him down and annoyed him. He left the engine running and went directly to the back of the unit and opened the double doors.
Otto and Josie climbed out of the jeep and opened both back doors. Josie helped Marvin roll the stretcher over to the jeep.
“Fill me in,” Marvin said, already looking into the backseat.
“A female, twenty-two years old. Possible heatstroke,” Josie said.
Josie helped Marvin pull the girl out of the backseat and lay her on the stretcher. Marvin strapped her body down, and they rolled her back to the ambulance and slid her inside. He climbed into the back and started preparing IV fluids as Josie explained what she knew.
“I found her a quarter mile east of here. Passed out. She’s unresponsive. Won’t take any water.” Josie watched Marvin slide the needle smoothly into Cassidy’s arm and get the fluid dripping into her body. “She hasn’t opened her eyes since I got here.”
“Any idea how long she’s been outside?” Marvin asked. He pulled packs of ice out of a small freezer and laid them in between her inner arms and her body, her armpits, and her groin.
“No idea.”
He stood up quickly and headed toward the front of the ambulance. “Anybody taking the ride with me?”
Otto motioned Josie into the back of the ambulance. “Go on. See if you can get something out of her when she wakes up. I’ll get measurements.”
She nodded and stepped in beside the stretcher. Marvin turned the ambulance around and Josie shouted toward the front, “Hey! Drive like you got sense. I don’t want to end up in a ditch on the way there.”
“No worries,” he yelled, laughing at what he thought was a joke.
Sitting on a small bench beside Cassidy’s head, Josie pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. She dialed Officer Marta Cruz’s number. Marta was the third member of their three-person police department. Artemis needed at least five officers to handle the recent spate of violence, brought on by the cartels in northern Mexico, but resources were scarce. Marta wasn’t due in to work for several hours. Josie hated calling her off