Lara Lacombe - Ranger's Baby Rescue

“I’m sorry,” he said, stepping forward. “Is this close to where you camped a lot as a child? Is that why you thought to look here?”

She shrugged. “We did camp nearby once, but it wasn’t one of our regular spots. I really did think I had seen something, though. That’s why I left the trail.”

“We can stay and search if you want,” he said. It was getting too late in the day to go much farther. Might as well go through this spot carefully so they could mark it off their list.

“That’s fine,” she said. But she didn’t sound enthusiastic.

“I bet you did see something,” he said, trying to boost her spirits. “People leave trash behind a lot.”

“Yeah, but it’s probably just an empty chip bag or something equally generic,” she said. “That won’t help us.”

“No.” He began to walk in an ever-widening circle, scanning the area near his feet for debris of a man-made variety. “But at least we’ll know.”

They were quiet a moment as they worked, moving in opposite directions so as not to step on each other’s toes. He’d just about completed his circuit when he heard Emma suck in a breath.

“Matt,” she said, her voice tight. “Look at this.”

He turned to find her holding up what looked like an empty foil pouch. A plastic nozzle stuck out of one end and as he moved closer, he realized it was a squeezable yogurt that had been left behind.

Emma’s brown eyes sparkled with excitement. “This is what I saw—the light reflecting off the foil.”

He nodded. “Probably so. You look like you recognize it?”

She grinned, bouncing on the balls of her feet a little as she held it up for his inspection. “Yes, I do. I give them to Christina all the time. She loves them—can’t get enough.”

And you think your brother left this trash behind . It was clear Emma had made that assumption, and Matt’s heart ached a bit for her. While it was technically possible her brother and baby had camped here, it was a lot more likely the wrapper had been left behind by a random innocent hiker. Who knew how long the trash had been here?

“It might not be from your brother,” he said, trying to manage her expectations. He understood her need to believe they were on the right track, but he didn’t want to see her get her hopes too high. Even if the wrapper did turn out to be from Joseph and Christina, there was no way of knowing where they had gone after leaving this site. Assuming he had brought the baby here in the first place, he might be long gone by now. Perhaps he’d crossed into Mexico and had disappeared in one of the border towns? It was a possibility he didn’t dare bring up to Emma, but one he had to consider nonetheless.

“It is,” she said with certainty. “I’m sure of it.”

“How do you know?” He was curious to hear her logic, to assess if she was merely engaging in wishful thinking, or if she had a solid reason for believing this particular piece of trash had been left by her brother.

“This is Christina’s favorite flavor,” she said.

Matt smiled sadly. “How would your brother know that?” he asked gently.

Emma’s confident expression faltered a bit, but then she shook her head. “He took some food from me when he kidnapped her. I didn’t notice it until later, after the police had left. But there were several baby food and yogurt pouches missing. This was one of them.” She shook the wrapper slightly in emphasis.

Matt held up a hand. “Okay,” he said, conceding the point. He knew no matter what he said, Emma believed the trash in her hand had been left behind by Joseph. And maybe that was the truth. But her brother wasn’t around now, and that was the most important point.

He decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. “Any idea where he might have gone now?”

Emma shook her head, a troubled light chasing away the gleam of excitement in her eyes. “No. But I have to think we’re getting close.”

Maybe , Matt thought.

For her sake, he hoped she was right.

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