 Three years ago Barbara Webb was secretary and reporter for Herb Malone, editor of Baker City, Michigan s lead newspaper. She and Herb were lovers and planned to marry, but when a man named Wilcoxon was kidnapped, Barbara s aggressive reporting led to the publication of information that led to his death. Malone had no choice but to fire Barbara even though they re both still in love, and she moved out of town to a job with a national wire service in Dayton, Ohio. Now she has returned to cover a police roundup in the wake of a murder, and when she spots Fred Johnson, she remembers the Richard Kimble case and snaps a photo of Johnson that is published around the country and smokes out both Kimble and Lt. Gerard. When Kimble appears at the jail, Johnson recognizes him and escapes. Barbara helps Kimble pursue Johnson when he steals a car and tries to race through hilly terrain, but he loses control and crashes, falling out of the car as it rolls down a steep embankment. Unconscious, Johnson is taken by Kimble and Barbara to a shuttered campsite where medicines are stored that Kimble can use to keep Johnson alive. He nurses Johnson to brief consciousness, and when he queries Johnson about Helen Kimble s murder, he gets a nodding confession, but he and Barbara must get a signed confession from Johnson, with Lt. Gerard pressing Herb Malone for information on Kimble and Barbara s whereabouts.