“Do you see?” Nate asked. “See how scared she is?”
“Were you able to retrace her steps? See where she came from?” Leah peered at the photo. No one seemed to be with Beth or following her.
“That’s exactly what we did,” Emily answered, excitement filling her voice. She brought up a map of the fairgrounds. “Here’s where you and Nate found her at the judges’ tent.” She pointed.
“Then we followed her backwards and found her here, here, and here.” Nate pointed out locations on the map that formed a path ending with the horse barn at the far edge of the fairgrounds. “And that’s it. We haven’t seen her in any other pictures.”
“Show me all the photos with her. Can you put them in order? From the first time you see her?” Emily reached past Nate and clicked a few keys, the screen filling with a slideshow.
In the first few images Beth seemed upset, yelling at someone she was talking on the phone with, and in the final shot of the series she actually threw the phone onto the ground. It had to be more than anger, Leah thought. A pregnant woman in preterm labor wouldn’t just toss away her lifeline. Was she afraid that someone was tracking her through the phone?
Leah inspected the map of the fair, pinpointing where the photos had been taken as she followed Beth’s progress through the fairgrounds until the last photo at the judges’ tent. Then she went back to the very first ones. Beth was behind the horse barn. Leah scrutinized the photo, then compared it to the map which showed an exercise ring for the horses and beyond that was a bunch of green swirls, indicating the state forest.
Craven Peak. It had cabins and a campground. The perfect place for someone to hide out.
“Do you have any more pictures of this area?” She wanted to see what kind of barrier someone coming in from the forest would need to climb over to gain entrance to the fairgrounds and the background had been too hazy to tell in the photos with Beth.
Nate and Emily huddled over the computer, scanning their photos with dizzying speed.
“Here, we found it!” Emily clapped her hands.
On the screen was a photo of two teenagers walking horses on leads, preparing for their event. Behind them was a wall of trees, too thick to see anything but shadows. And between the trees and the exercise area was a split-rail fence about four feet high.
Anyone could have gotten past the fence. Even a pregnant woman in labor, if she was desperate enough.
“She came from Craven Peak,” Leah muttered, taking over the keyboard from Emily. A few clicks later and the state forest’s page appeared. Craven Peak was considered a primitive wilderness area, so hikers and overnight campers had to sign in with a ranger. There was a page where you could make reservations for the cabins. Leah clicked on the cabin closest to the fairground. A calendar appeared, showing that it had been rented up until yesterday and was available any night this week.
Leah typed in her information, reserving the cabin for that night. A confirmation window popped up instructing her that she had to arrive at the ranger’s office to check in by seven p.m. She glanced at the clock: it was almost seven already.
Nate watched her. “You’re going, aren’t you? Shouldn’t you talk to Luka?”
Leah wasn’t worried about running into any danger. And certainly she had no hope of actually finding Beth at the cabin. After all, it was where Beth had fled from—she wouldn’t return there; it was too risky. If two kids with a computer could track her there, then anyone could. Leah’s curiosity was overwhelming her. Who was Beth really? What was she running from? Maybe she’d left some clues behind in the cabin. Plus, if Leah could find Beth’s phone, it might provide a treasure trove of information that could help her find Beth and the baby.
“I’ll let him know if I find anything,” she promised Nate. “But it looks like, if Beth was there, she checked out yesterday, so it’s probably a dead end.” Both kids looked disappointed. “You guys did great, though. Really good work.”
“If it’s a dead end, can we come with you? See for ourselves?” Emily asked. “After all, we found the clues like real detectives. And then we could stop for ice cream on the way home.”
As if they needed another hit of sugar tonight. “Tell you what, you guys behave yourselves for Ruby and I’ll plan something special for tomorrow night. Something we can all do, even Pops and Janine and Luka, if he’s not busy.”
Nate nodded eagerly but Emily was skeptical, always preferring the bird in the hand. “Promise?”
Leah grabbed her bag and kissed them both. “Promise.”
She was halfway to Craven Peak when her phone rang—the Labor and Delivery ward. “Dr. Wright here.”
“Dr. Wright, this is Vicki, the nurse who took care of Beth Doe yesterday. I wasn’t sure who to call—” Her voice was taut with anxiety. Very unlike an L and D nurse—they were usually as calm and collected as Leah’s ER nurses.
“What’s wrong, Vicki?”
“Beth’s baby boy. His blood culture came back positive for Group B strep.”
Leah sucked in her breath. This was exactly why the pediatricians had wanted to keep a close eye on the baby. “He needs antibiotics.”
“My charge nurse called the police, but I’m not sure they understand how dangerous it is. So I thought I’d call you, since technically you’re the one who admitted her.”
“I know the detective in charge of the hunt for Beth and her baby. I’ll call him myself, make sure he gets the word out. Thanks, Vicki.” Leah hung up, adrenaline sparking her nerves. There still was little that she could do to help—but at least now Luka had a good reason to make the search for Beth public and get more people working on finding her.
She’d just reached the ranger’s office inside the entrance
