The Midwife's Christmas Miracle (Lakeside Mountain Rescue 5)

She knew he was wondering why her reaction was so extreme but she didn’t care. And she certainly didn’t intend to offer an explanation. ‘Jake!’

‘All right.’ He muttered something else under his breath and ran a hand through his hair. ‘We’ll go back to the flats and have a look around. But just for an hour. After that we’re going home.’

Two police cars were parked outside the flats and Jake pulled up behind them while Miranda turned up her collar and wrapped her scarf round her neck.

‘Do you have a torch?’

‘Glove compartment.’

Miranda reached inside and tucked the torch in her pocket. ‘Come on. Let’s go.’ She climbed out of the car and walked away from the flats, the beam of light from the torch flickering in front of her.

‘Go where, exactly?’ Fastening the buttons of his coat, Jake strode after her. ‘Don’t you think we should start by looking around the flats?’

‘That’s what the police are doing and I just don’t think that’s where she’s going to be.’

‘Why not? That was where she left the baby.’

‘Because she wanted it to be found! But that doesn’t mean that she wants to be found. Think about it, Jake! If she wanted her pregnancy to be made public then she would have turned up at an antenatal clinic. It’s far more likely that she’s avoiding people. Maybe she lives there, maybe her parents live there, but at the moment I think she’s huddled in an alleyway somewhere, trying to work out what to do,’ Miranda reasoned as she crossed the road and walked away from the flats. ‘I don’t believe she’s in the flats.’

‘You’ve missed your vocation.’ Jake watched her with fascination as he kept pace. ‘Have you been watching crime programmes in your spare time?’

‘I don’t have any spare time. I have work time and sleep time.’ Miranda stopped dead, her frown slightly impatient as she tried to focus her mind. She looked around her, searching for inspiration, trying to think like a frightened teenager. ‘What would you do, Jake? Think. You leave your baby somewhere where you know it’s going to be found because you want it to be found.’

‘Do you?’ Jake scratched his head, trying to follow her train of thought. ‘Miranda, perhaps we should leave this to the police. They have—’

‘The park.’ Miranda grabbed his arm and hurried along the road. ‘I bet she’s in the park.’

‘This place has a park?’ Jake glanced around him doubtfully and Miranda looked at him impatiently.

‘It’s where all the teenagers hang out. I’ve seen them.’ She was half running now, her torch w

inking in the darkness. She pushed open the gate and paused.

Jake peered into the soupy darkness. ‘She’s not here.’

‘You don’t know that.’ Miranda let the gate go and walked further into the park. ‘This is just the play area for the little ones. Further in are bushes and trees. That’s where the teenagers hang out. It’s where they go to smoke.’

‘How do you know all this?’

But before she could answer, Jake grabbed her arm. ‘Over there.’ He kept his voice low and pointed. ‘To the right. Do you see it?’

Miranda followed the direction of his gaze and nodded. ‘It’s a person. Sitting on the ground. Oh, Jake, I’m sure that’s her—’

‘It might be nothing. Just a drunk. Miranda, you stay here and I’ll go and see who it is.’

‘No way. How is she going to react to being approached by a six-foot-two man she doesn’t know?’ Miranda shrugged him off and hurried across to the figure. ‘Hello?’ She swung the torch and the light suddenly illuminated a blotched, miserable face.

‘G-go away.’ The girl’s voice was weak. ‘I wanna be on my own.’

Miranda immediately dropped the torch and went down on her knees. ‘I’m from the hospital. A midwife. We found a baby near here. Was it yours, sweetheart?’

Perhaps it was the endearment or just the relief of being found, but the girl started to sob quietly and the sound had a desperate quality that tore holes in Miranda’s heart.

‘Don’t cry.’ She slid her arms round the girl and held her. ‘Please, don’t cry. We’re going to help you. I promise we’ll help you.’

‘I didn’t know what was happening!’ The girl choked and sobbed, her words at times almost unintelligible as she talked. ‘It hurt. It hurt so much and now the police are there.’ The girl hiccoughed and wiped her nose on her sleeve. ‘And I know the baby’s dead and I’ll go to prison. I killed her.’

‘You won’t go to prison. And she isn’t dead. You haven’t killed anyone.’