Free Spider's Web by Mike Omer Page A

far.”
    “Yeah, yeah.”
    “This is four fifty-one, responding,” she told Dispatch.
    Sergio accelerated, turning on the car’s flashing lights.
    “This is eight-o-one, on our way,” someone said on the radio. It was the medical emergency crew.
    “Hey,” the drunk novelist called from the back. “Where are we going?”
    “Don’t worry about it,” Sergio said.
    “You can’t just drag me along! I have rights!”
    “It’s research for your new novel,” Sergio said sharply. “Now shut up.”
    The car swerved onto Ambleside Drive, and Sergio slowed down. It was a small residential area at the edge of town. The street was narrow, cars parked on both sides, the streetlights dim. Tanessa looked intently ahead, her eyes scanning the area.
    “There!” she pointed.
    Someone was kneeling in the middle of the road. As they got closer, they saw it was a man, kneeling by a motionless body. Sergio stopped the car on the side of the road and they both leaped out. Sergio ran for the trunk to get the temporary roadblock gear. Tanessa dashed over to the body. It was a young woman, lying in a pool of blood. The man by her side was saying, “Hang on, just hang on, the ambulance will be here any moment.”
    Tanessa knelt by him. “I’m Officer Lonnie,” she said. “Can you tell me what happened?” She looked at the woman on the ground, who was young—nineteen or twenty—her skin dark, her black hair braided into hundreds of thin braids. She stared upwards, her eyes blinking in confusion. There was a trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth, as well as a gash on her forehead. Her body was positioned strangely, her torso twisted sideways. She wore a black tank top and black pants. Her lips moved slowly, opening and closing.
    “I… I don’t know what happened,” the man said. “My house is across the street. I heard a large crash, and screeching tires. When I came outside, the car was driving away.”
    “Can you describe the car?” Tanessa asked, bending over the girl’s mouth and listening intently. The girl was breathing.
    “No… Square taillights. I couldn’t see anything in the dark. Is she going to be okay?”
    “We’ll do the best we can.” Tanessa said, trying to sound much calmer than she felt. They were both kneeling in a growing pool of blood. She couldn’t see where it was coming from, but there was a lot of it. She didn’t dare move the girl, knew she should wait for the ambulance. She caressed the girl’s forehead gently.
    “Hey,” she said, half whispering. “Hang in there, sweetie, you’re going to be okay. Can you hear me? You’re going to be just fine.”
    The girl kept blinking. Her eyes turned toward Tanessa.
    “What’s your name, sweetie?”
    “Tamay,” the girl croaked, her eyes suddenly narrowing in pain.
    “Shhhh. It’s okay. Don’t talk if it hurts. Tamay? That’s a beautiful name. Tamay, my name is Tanessa. The ambulance is on its way, okay, sweetie? They’re going to take really good care of you, don’t worry.” She put her hand on Tamay’s cheek, her fingers brushing the girl’s skin. She was cold, Tanessa realized.
    “Sergio!” she called, “Can I get something to warm this girl up? She’s really cold.”
    Her partner was by her side in seconds, handing her his uniform jacket. Tanessa spread the coat over the girl’s body, whispering reassurances the entire time. She heard the ambulance stop behind her, the men inside shouting at each other as they got their gear out of the vehicle.
    “Move, Officer,” one of them said firmly. Tanessa got up and moved aside, grabbing the witness’s arm and pulling him back. They let the emergency crew work, checking the girl, immobilizing her, putting her on a stretcher, wheeling her toward the ambulance. It took only minutes, and the ambulance was already screeching away, not a moment to lose.
    Tanessa looked at the witness. He had blood on his palms and on his clothes. She realized her own pants were drenched in