I rolled down my window. She was breathing hard. Her neck was wet with sweat. Her hair curled around her face. She leaned over ready to talk and tried to open the back door. “Let me in,” she said. I hesitated, wondered what she was trying to pull this time. She kicked the door. “Charlie,” she said, and I liked the sound of my name on her tongue. I was trying not to smile because I believed I had her then. “Please,” she finally said.

I got out of the car and had her scoot over in the front seat. She pointed down the road. I was still thinking about my log sheets, the things I was going to tell her.

“There,” she said, her breath almost a wheeze. She was looking down the road. I smiled a bit. I looked a long ways down the road knowing her bull. “What you got going there, Louise?” I said. I put the car in neutral. I rolled down my window the rest of the way and took a long breath of the day, knowing I was smelling her. I crossed my arms and couldn’t keep from smiling.

“What are you doing?” she said, still breathing hard. She hit my shoulder. “Charlie,” she said, her eyes were wide. I held the mike to my mouth to tell the dispatcher where I was. “Drive,” she said, her voice sighed. “Drive.” She bent over and grabbed her ankles, and for a moment I wondered if she was trying to hide from someone. She reached over to me then and squeezed my knee with a strong hand. “My sister’s been bit by a rattler,” she said so fast I could hardly get what she was saying. “Hurry.” She pointed down the road and I could see the heartbeat in her throat. I felt the kick of my own stupidity. I threw the car in forward, but something in me was only half believing her. She had tricked me before. She studied the road, her hand to her forehead, and I looked sideways at her. The day had taken a fast turn.