James stepped forward. “How old is your child?”
The woman’s eyes darted from one to the other until they came to rest on James. “Mariah. She’s six months old. Oh God! Something happened. I just lost control. Oh God! Please! Please! Make her okay!”
James glanced at the two men trying to restrain her without hurting her. “You searched?”
“We checked. It’s dark down there.” One of the men shook his head. “There’s a car seat but there’s no child in that car.”
“Yes there is! Oh God, Mariah’s in there! You’ve got to believe me!”
James knelt down to bring his face even with hers. “Her name’s Mariah. She’s six months old. Is that correct?”
“Yes.” The woman’s eyes widened until the whites showed all around. “Please help her.”
“Where was she riding?”
“She’s in the backseat. In her seat.” She grabbed James’s sleeve. “Someone must get her out of there!”
“Yes, ma’am. If she’s down there, we’ll get her.”
Out of breath, the woman sagged back weakly, sobbing.
James looked up at the trucker. “You got traffic cones?” The man nodded. “Okay, make a perimeter. I’m getting my partner to help search for the child.”
As he rose to his feet he heard sirens but they sounded a good way off.
As he jogged back toward his cruiser, Shay exited the car. “What can I do?”
James looked back at the frantic mother. “The driver is a woman. She says there was a baby girl in the car but the men who went down to help couldn’t find her.”
“Oh my God!”
He opened the trunk and took out some things. He put them either in his pocket or tucked them in his belt: a pair of boots, a muzzle, and Bogart’s tracking harness. “If there’s a baby down there in the dark, Bogart has the best chance of finding her.”
“Can he do that without a scent?”
James nodded as he bent to exchange his shoes for heavy tactical boots that zipped on. “It’s a search, not a track. As far as we know, the baby is the only one down there.”
“Oh.” Shay watched him with expanding appreciation for what they did.
Bogart barked, a high excited bark Shay had never heard before as James strapped on his harness and attached his leash.
“He knows he’s about to work, doesn’t he?”
“Right. Don’t touch him. He’s in the zone.”
“Is that why you’re muzzling him?”
He nodded. “There’s a crowd of excited people milling around. I don’t want him to bite anyone in the confusion.”
Shay backed up, hugging herself as the mist gathered in her eyelashes. “What can I do?”
“You can help see to the mother. Anything to calm her. And don’t let anyone move her again until the ambulance gets here.”
“Do you have a blanket?”
He nodded. “In the trunk. Roof compartment.”
Shay ran to the back and pulled out a lightweight dark gray blanket. As she came around the cruiser, James lifted a hand in salute. “Be careful!”
He then bent over to stroke Bogart, who was visibly excited. “Gute Hund. Let’s go.”
He moved forward quickly, Bogart straining forward as if he already knew what the command would be. James kept him on a short leash to work him past the ever-growing crowd of onlookers. A couple of men had begun voluntarily directing traffic but that was not his concern. There was the possibility of a missing baby out there in the dark.
As he neared the crowd he gave warning. “Stay back!”
His shout made a few young men in lumber jackets and gimme caps look back at him. “There’s a kid down there.” One man pointed. “We’re going to look.”
“No!” James flashed his badge. “K-9 police. You’ll get in the way. But you can warn local law enforcement police when they arrive that there’s a K-9 unit on duty down there.”
He glanced at the others. “If any of you have high-beam flashlights, I could use your help shining some concentrated light down there.”
Several of them jumped back toward their vehicles.
James lit his high-performance flashlight to illuminate the darkness below. The misty rain made gauzy globes of the streetlights, dimming their effectiveness. There was no breeze. The heavy dampness, however, might be a help in their search, holding any human scent close to the ground for Bogart to follow. With nothing better to go on they proceeded directly toward the wrecked car.
Bogart, ears and tail high, led the way to the edge of the incline. Only then did his handler give the search command. “Revier!”
Bogart scrambled forward and James hustled after him.