�You boys sure do work fast,� Dale said standing up. �I was hoping to tell her about it myself,� he said quietly, easing up on Isaac.
�Yes, well, we have a better chance of finding Mrs. Newman if we don�t wait. While you�re here Mr. Earnhardt, I�d also like to re-interview you as well,� Isaac said. �We--�
�What happened, Dr Malone?� James interrupted quietly as the two men turned toward her. Dale sat down next to her and put his arm around her, pulling her near. He could feel James trembling as he held her.
�She was taken a few hours ago from a mall during one of her husband�s appearances,� he said, looking at James a bit sorry.
�I just talked� We were suppose to�� she said, drifting off. Her mind kept going to thoughts of Katie�s house and the state in which it was in.
She couldn�t help but think of Krissie and how she must have struggled like Katie, how she tried to fight off her attacker. She couldn�t help but think of Krissie, suffering the same fate as Katie.
Dale just held her tighter as her words seemed to be lost, wishing he could make everything all right for her like she did with him when he needed it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flashback: A year ago at Phoenix International Raceway
James and Dara Watson were passing the stalls of the teams, making their way out. It had been an exciting day. They had passes to the pits and watch the quals from there. She got to meet some of her favorite drivers, like Dale Jarrett, Tony Stewart, and Jeff Gordon. She was on cloud nine.
James� surrogate brother and best friend, Charlie Chase, was looking for a team to invest in. His company was looking to sponsor a team, trying to cash in on the newest fad in sports. He had trusted her to find the driver and team for his company.
He had sent James to check out the teams for him, see how they run and get a feel for them. She was in tune with his company and knew the sport better than the other execs and others that worked for him. She knew what they were looking for.
�So you have any idea as to who you want?� Dara asked, zipping up her sweater.
�None what so ever, but tomorrow is another day. Besides, choosing one is an impossible task,� she answered, pushing a loose strand of shiny raven black hair behind her ear.
As they walked, they noticed a growing crowd of women around one of the stalls. �What�s this?� Dara asked.
She was a bit lost when it came to the sport. She had agreed to come with James for the sake of being a friend. NASCAR wasn�t her thing, but then again, sports in general weren�t her thing.
�One word for the cause of this mayhem: Earnhardt,� James answered, shaking her head. She lightly chuckled at the sight of one man getting the women all riled up in such a fashion.
�He a driver?� she asked. James just nodded. �You�d think he�s like a rock star,� Dara said, kind of taken back by the whole scene.
James was thinking the same thing. He was one of her favorite drivers, not because of his new status as a sort of Brad Pitt of NASCAR, but because she was brought up that way.
Being an Earnhardt fan was a must in her family. To be anything else was sacrilegious, to favor someone other than an Earnhardt in a race was considered a sin. Her family were strictly die hard Earnhardt fans. Her grandfather cheered on the first Earnhardt, her father cheered on Dale Sr. and now she cheered on both of the Earnhardt brothers.
Dara and James ended up getting stuck in the crowd. They had no choice but to wait for them to clear out. They stood back, away and off to the side, watching the women.
Dara was going on about something, but James wasn�t paying any attention. Her gaze had wandered to a man sitting on the pile of tires. He seemed disoriented and James, being a doctor, was concerned.
Dale also noticed the man, his uncle. A few moments, before being sent out to the crowd, like a lamb being sent to the slaughter, his uncle was complaining about being disoriented. His uncle told him that he had hit his head and was just dizzy from that. Dale just took his uncle�s explanation and left it at that.
James continued watching him, making sure he was okay, but he seemed to be getting worse. �Finally,� Dara said, tuning her back to James, �the crowd is letting up.� When she turned back around, she noticed that James had left her side and gone over to the man. Dara walked over there and as she did, the man seemed to collapse forward, toward James. Dale saw what had happened and made his way through the crowd to his uncle.
James held him and slowly laid him down on the ground. Dara then ran over, concerned about what was going on. �What�s wrong?� she asked breathlessly.
James undid the man�s shirt, belt, and pants. �He�s having a heart attack,� James responded. �Get one of the crew members and tell them to get an ambulance,� she ordered her friend as Dale came over to her.
She looked at Dale�s uncle and asked, �Sir? Sir, have you felt any uncomfortable pressure? Fullness or squeezing pain in the chest? Some pain spreading to shoulders, neck, arms or jaw? What about light-headedness, fainting, sweating, nausea or shortness of breath?�
Tony Sr. nodded his head.
�What happened?� Dale asked her as he kneeled down beside her. She didn�t respond. She was looking in her bag for some aspirin. She had to get him to take some while he was still conscious. �What happened? What�s wrong with him?!� Dale demanded.
She had found the aspirin. �Here,� she said to Dale, thrusting the aspirin bottle in his hand, �Open that and get out two pills. He�s having a heart attack.�
As Dale quickly opened the bottle and got two pills, she said, �Sir,� turning her attention back to Dale�s uncle, �You need to take this, sir. It�s only aspirin, but it�ll help.�
She propped him up so he�ll be able to take the pills. Dale gave his uncle the aspirin and watched on. His uncle began to look worse. He was having a harder time breathing. �Sir,� she said, but he was become somewhat unresponsive. �Sir,� she continued.
�Come on, Pops,� Dale said as he watched.
�Sir, listen to me. You�re gonna be fine. There�s an ambulance on the way, alright?� she said as the crowd, which had surrounded him earlier, had now surrounded them. All were watching as she started performing CPR. It was then that Dara had come back with an ambulance.
The EMTs had cleared the crowd away as she continued administering CPR. �What happened? asked one of the EMTs.
�He�s having a heart attack,� she answered as the other EMT continued administering CPR. �I gave him some aspirin when he was conscious,� she said, getting up to let the EMTs put Tony Sr. on the gurney. She, Dale, Dara and the rest of the crowd followed the EMTs to the ambulance.
�Sorry, guys,� said the EMT to James and Dale as they loaded his uncle in, �There�s no room. We�re going to take him to Phoenix Memorial. You can meet us there.� With that, they closed the doors and drove off, sirens blaring.
Dale stood there, in shock and disbelief. James looked over at him, noticing a vulnerability in his face. It was quite a different look from the way he looked on the track; he always seemed intense and focused.
James reached over to him and held his hand. He looked over at her, into her eyes as she said softly, �He�ll be fine. Everything�s going to be fine.� Something about her calmed him. He believed her when she said that everything would be fine.
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