Page 57 of Luke

He caught her by the arms. "Whoa. Where's the fire?"

"I'm not sure."

His eyes immediately filled with concern. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know yet. Maybe nothing. Maybe something. I need to find Kaitlyn. The Harrison boys said she asked them how to get to the trail for the falls." She broke away from Luke and jogged up the stairs, hoping that Kaitlyn was actually in her room and had changed her mind about taking a hike.

"Seriously?" Luke asked, close on her heels as they moved down the hall. "I thought she didn't like hiking."

"She hates it." She threw open the door to Kaitlyn's bedroom. Her niece wasn't there, but when she saw what was on the bed, her heart skipped a beat.

An open photo album and several loose pictures were spread across the bed.

She picked up the nearest picture, a family photo from a year ago: Kaitlyn with Kelly and Brian at Disneyland. They were all wearing Mickey Mouse ears on their heads. They were laughing. They were happy.

Her heart broke at the sight of her sister's face, the family she'd created, the love so obvious between all three of them. Her eyes watered, and she couldn't stop the tears from falling.

Luke came up behind her, putting his arms around her. She leaned back against him, needing the comfort, the security of his embrace. But she knew she could only linger there a second. Something was wrong. Kaitlyn had made a decision to do something.

"She must have been looking at these pictures because it's her mom's birthday," she murmured. "I couldn't get her to go near the albums before this. In fact, I caught her trying to throw them away a few months ago, and I stopped her. I hid them in my closet so she wouldn't be bothered by their presence. But today she must have gone in there and gotten them."

"It could be a good thing," he muttered. "Maybe she just wanted to go for a walk."

"I don't know." As she closed the photo album, she saw one of the lodge brochures on the bed. This particular flyer outlined the hiking trails and on the back was the story of the upper and lower Wolmer Falls, Last Chance Rock and undiscovered gold.

"Oh, my God," she murmured, a sudden surge of adrenaline rushing through her. "She's going up there. She's going to Last Chance Rock. She's going to look for the gold."

"Hold on," Luke said. "You don't know that. She could just be walking up to the lower falls. That's an easy hike. She won't go any farther on her own. She'd be too scared."

"Would she be too scared? She's reckless and angry and sad. That's a terrible combination. I need to find her. I think Brad is in the office. He'll know the way."

"I'll go with you," Luke said, following her down the stairs.

She nodded, happy to take all the help she could get.

Brad was in the office as she'd hoped. He got to his feet, obviously seeing the fear on her face. "What's happened?"

"I think Kaitlyn has gone up to Last Chance Rock and the upper falls on her own," she said.

His jaw dropped. "What? Why would she do that?"

"It's a long story. We need to go after her."

"Of course. We can leave right now. But if you really think she's going past the lower falls, I need to get some supplies. The upper trail is slick and dangerous right now with the upper falls so strong and powerful at this time of the year."

His words only increased her fear. "Get what you need, but make it fast."

Brad had barely moved around the desk when Shari appeared in the doorway. Lizzie could immediately see that something was wrong. Shari's skin was very pale, her eyes wide and worried, and she had a hand on her belly.

Brad rushed to his wife's side. "What is it?" he asked.

"My water broke," she said. "I'm having contractions, but it's too early. I'm supposed to have four more weeks. I can't have a baby now."

"It looks like you don't have a choice," Brad said. He flung a troubled look at Lizzie. "I need to take Shari to the hospital. I—I don't know what to do."

"Yes, you do," she said, wishing that weren't the case but Brad couldn't be in two places at once.

"What else is wrong?" Shari asked, looking from her husband to Liz.

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