Free Trial by Fire by Jo Davis Page B

was enough to save Emily Jean.

    5
    Kat took off after Howard and stumbled, unable to keep up with his long-legged stride. For such a big man, he covered ground like a deer, swift and with purpose.
    That precious baby! Dear God, let her be okay.
    But she wasn’t. That fact became horribly clear as Kat skidded to a halt in the middle of pandemonium.
    The tall brown-haired woman Kat presumed to be the mother was completely hysterical, grabbing at the baby in the man’s arms, unintentionally creating more of a problem rather than helping. Howard took control of the situation, barking orders like a man used to having them followed.
    “Lay her on the ground,” he fired at the white-faced man holding Emily. To the second guy, the one who’d followed the first into the river, he gestured to indicate the mother and snapped, “Hold her, now. ”
    Without a word and barely a nod, both men jumped to do as instructed.
    Howard glanced to Kat. “Make sure someone is calling 911.”
    Scanning the crowd to do as he asked, Kat felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see a teenager behind her, pointing to another young woman already making the call. Nodding, Kat returned her attention to the drama.
    As he lowered Emily to the grass a few feet from the bank, the first man glanced at Howard, eyes wild. “Are you a doctor?”
    “Paramedic. You the father?” Howard knelt, taking the baby’s arm and checking for a pulse at the bend of her elbow. Next, he pushed up the baby’s pink shirt, probing the upper abdomen with his fingertips.
    “Yes.” His voice cracked. “Please, she’s so little—”
    “I’ve got a pulse, so we’re gonna get this water out of her lungs, then get some air in there,” Howard said, the picture of calm authority. “What’s your name?”
    The man blinked. “Phil.”
    “Okay, Phil, I need you to keep a cool head in case I need an assist. You with me?”
    Kat suspected he needed no such thing, but was trying to keep the man calm. Watching the lieutenant in action, she felt the kernel of respect planted last night grow by leaps and bounds.
    “Sure.” Phil swallowed hard.
    “Good. Right now I need you to talk to Emily, Phil. Let her know you’re here. That’s real important, okay?”
    While Phil crooned to his daughter and stroked her wet hair, Howard used the heel of his hand to push upward on her diaphragm, careful not to apply too much force. Water gushed from between her lips, but not the copious amount Kat would’ve thought. After several pushes, Howard supported the baby with one hand under her back, the other on her tummy. As he carefully turned the baby over, Kat was struck by how huge his hands were, how tiny the child. His hands spanned her entire torso, could easily crush the little girl with their incredible strength, but the lieutenant handled her as though she were a priceless treasure.
    Kat could tell Howard was getting the rest of the water from the baby’s lungs, pounding firmly on her back, but not hard enough to injure her. Only a thin trickle dribbled from the child’s lips now, and she prayed hard for the child to breathe.
    Howard laid Emily on her back once more, then covered her nose and mouth, giving her puffs of air. To her right, the mother’s hysterical babbling became the low wail of an animal in agony. The awful sound raised gooseflesh on Kat’s arms, prickled her neck. Even if everything turned out all right, the eerie howls of a woman’s fear and grief would haunt her for a long time to come.
    Oh, no, please—
    Emily’s thin chest heaved, she gasped . . . and began to cry.
    Kat’s legs went rubbery. A collective burst of joy and relief exploded from the crowd, people exclaiming, crying, hugging one another. The man who’d been holding the mother let go, and the woman fell to her knees beside Howard, tears streaming down her face.
    “Emily, oh, sweetheart, thank God. Thank God!”
    At the sound of her mother’s voice, the little girl held out her chubby arms