Markers (Joshua Stokes Mysteries Book 3) Read Free Page A

of the responsibility of looking out for her. However, he was disappointed to see that it was one of his deputy’s vehicles instead.
    Deputy Cook had barely come to a stop when he heard more sirens coming their way. Next come Deputies Calvert and Davis, and then finally the ambulance came. He knew that a skid truck would be there soon to load the vehicle and take it to Chessman’s Garage where it would remain until the woman was able to tell them what she wanted done with it. Before they did that and took it away, Joshua wanted to flip the vehicle upright. He hoped there was something in it that might help them identify the driver. He also wanted to see if they could stop the radio from blaring.
    When the ambulance attendants took over the care of the injured woman, Joshua, with the help of his deputies, flipped the vehicle upright onto the shoulder of the road. As soon as they did, the trunk lid popped open and everything inside the trunk fell out onto the pavement. Flipping it stopped the gasoline leak; however, the radio still played, even louder if that was possible.
    Joshua saw a suitcase along with the spare tire and bumper jack, but that was about it. He hoped there was a purse or a wallet inside it that would have the woman’s identification in it.
    He and Deputy Calvert were able to pry the driver’s door open by using the tire tool. Then Joshua got down on his knees and tried to reach inside to the radio; he could not reach it. He picked up the tire iron he had laid on the ground and used that to pop the hood loose. He disconnected the battery; it put an end to the radio blaring.
    Joshua had gone to where the stuff had fallen out of the trunk, he was about to pick the suitcase up when he heard Deputy Cook ask, “Do y’all hear that?” Everyone became as quiet as possible and listened. When they did, they could all hear a soft cry.
    “Sheriff, I hear someone in there!” Cookie yelled.
    “I hear ‘em too,” Joshua responded as he turned and walked back to the side of the wrecked car. “But how in the hell are we going to get to them?”

Three
     

Rescue
     
    They all heard the soft whimper-like noises coming from the backseat area of the now righted vehicle; however, with the roof mashed flat over the passenger compartment, they could not see inside it. Suddenly, Joshua had an idea. He ran and picked up the bumper jack, then let the pickup down until it fit the opening of the driver’s door they had already pried open. He then began to jack. With each pump of the jack handle, the roof slowly began to rise upward. The sound of groaning metal overpowered the soft, human noises they had been hearing. Joshua jacked until the runner ran out of shaft height on the jack bar. His deputies had been trying to peer into the vehicle as he jacked the space open.
    If the car had been a larger vehicle, he believed it would have been an easier rescue. On the other hand, they may not even be performing a rescue, thought Joshua. Larger vehicle roofs are harder to smash flat than the smaller coupes they were manufacturing nowadays. The 1969 Chevy Camaro they just uprighted, was a five passenger, two-door vehicle. The passenger compartment and roof area was small. The vehicle flipping so many times was what had flattened the roof.
    “Good Lord, Sheriff, I think there’s a baby in there!” exclaimed Deputy Davis.
    “I think so, too” said Calvert.
    “Yeah, I see the side of one of those child seats for babies,” Cook told them.
    “Damn’it!” was all Joshua could say. He turned and walked toward the ambulance that was waiting because he had told them to hang on when they first heard the noises coming from the vehicle.
    “Is she still unconscious,” Joshua snapped to the attendant.
    “No, sir, she’s coming around a little.”
    “I need to talk to her,” he said. The attendant moved out of the way so that Joshua could climb into the back of the ambulance.
    The ambulance crew had cleaned the blood from the