Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

LULU

“FOX!” I turn in my seat to look at our field correspondent.

“What’s up?” He picks up my camera and tosses it from hand to hand.

“You break it, you buy it, fucker.” He slowly puts it down with a grin on his face.

If he knew how much that camera cost or how much I paid for it, he’d cringe. That little secret makes me grin harder at him.

“Head down to Raleigh Medical. Fifth floor. That Jane Doe from the news a few days ago has family who arrived earlier today. James will meet you there.”

I stand and grab my leather jacket. “On it.” I pick up my camera and rush out of the building.

It’s a miracle that the young woman’s family was found. I remember the picture of her face that the police sent over, and I wondered how anyone could hurt a woman with the face of an angel.

“I can’t even fathom what her poor family has been through,” I mummer to myself as I tap my fingers on the steering wheel of my old pickup.

It’s older than me, but it gets me from point A to point B, so I’m grateful every morning when the old clunker turns over. I’m trying my hardest to separate myself from my side hustle now that I’m almost done with school.

My old roommate used to joke about stripping to pay rent, but I would never be brave enough. In this age of technology though, why strip in front of men in a dirty club when I could do it safely from my own bed? So I did.

The money is excellent, but with any online presence, eventually it could come back and bite me in the ass, especially with my profession.

Photographic journalism.

My goal is to travel.

I want to take photos all over the world and never have to pay rent again because I’m so famous that people pay me to keep moving.

I pull into the hospital parking lot and look up at the building.

My press pass gives me access to lots of things, but I’m not sure if a guarded ward is one. So I sit a moment and devise a plan on how I’m going to sneak onto the fifth floor.

I walk inside and see my old roommate’s boyfriend standing a little too close to a fellow nurse. Hmm, is that his hand on her ass? I smile.

“Hey, Greg!” I call, and wave.

He startles and drops his hand.

“Lulu, hi.” I throw my arms around his neck and hug him so I can whisper in his ear.

“I saw your hand. Get me onto the fifth floor, and I won’t tell her.” I back away with a smile on my face.

I wouldn’t say a word regardless since she left me high and dry to pay the rent myself months ago. She just left in the middle of the night to move in with this jackass without a word of explanation.

I call this karma.

“Um, I’ll see you later,” he says to the nurse who’s watching us suspiciously. He pushes me into an elevator, swipes his badge on the scanner, and punches the number five. “I could get fired for this.” He glares at me as the doors close between us. “You didn’t see shit, Lulu.”

“Not a fucking thing asshole.” I grin as I check the settings on the camera hanging around my neck.

The doors open, and I quickly look both ways through the hall when I exit.

“Right or left, Lulu?” I bite my lip and turn right.

I walk slowly so I don’t attract attention, keeping my head down so the current of my long hair slightly hides my face from people walking by.

And cameras.

I round a corner and stop dead. Two tall men dressed in jeans and leather vests stand in front of a security guard and a Doctor.

“Thank you for watching her until I arrived, but we got it from here.” The guy sounds like he’s going to break down any moment.

This must be the family member.

“It was my honor. But, sir? I don’t leave until someone takes my place.”

Oh my God.

I get my camera ready, knowing this is my moment. I watch through my viewfinder as the men talk to the doctor, and then the first guy loses it. The second grabs hold of him, and I start taking photos.

The emotion in these photos tells a story of grief and love.

“Hey!” Oh shit, busted.

“I’m sorry. I’m with the Raleigh Gazette .” I lift my badge and shake it as if it gives me all the right in the world to share in this moment.

“I’m sorry, but this is not the appropriate time for an interview. Please call this number to set something up.” The duo’s hugger hands me a card.

“I’m just the photographer, but I’ll give it over to the report. It’s best for candids if you don’t see me coming. I apologize for my candor, but finding her after all this time is the best case, right?” I smile because most people aren’t this lucky.

“Read the room, sweetheart. My sister is in the hospital, and if you haven’t noticed, these aren’t happy fucking tears!” His words make me stumble back in shock.

“All right, settle down,” the guard says, blocking them from my view.

“I’m sorry,” I spit out before I hightail it out of there.

I don’t know what is behind that closed door, but it isn’t the happy family reunion the paper thinks it is. As I make it back to the elevator, it opens, and James steps out with a well-dressed woman.

“How did you . . .? Never mind. Are you ready?”

I shake my head. “I got what I needed.” I shove the card into his chest. “The family asked you to call to schedule an interview. I don’t recommend interrupting them today.” I get on the elevator and push the button for the lobby until the doors begin to close on him talking to the woman with him.

The last thing I hear before the doors close sends shivers down my spine.

“The police are on their way to ask them questions. She’s been abused for years.”

I can’t wrap my head around that.

Her brother was so protective and was crying like a baby for her. If she was abused, it wasn’t him. I’d bet my life on it.

I think about the situation on my drive home and then again when I see more pieces of the story on the evening news. His reaction makes more sense now.

According to the Channel 11 news, Eden Harper Dare, twenty-six, originally from Roanoke Island, was kidnapped twenty years ago from their local hospital after a tragic car accident that took the lives of her parents. The police assumed she was dead until she surfaced five days ago. She was severely malnourished and, after testing, was diagnosed with leukemia.

They’re calling her a miracle since her brother, Brice Wyatt Dare, thirty-three, is a bone marrow match.

I sip my wine and wish this little family the best.

I turn off my TV and walk into my bedroom. I lock the door out of habit, even though I live alone. It’s like an extra layer of safety. I switch on my fairy lights and log in to my computer to set up my live feed for tonight.

“Time to work,” I say as I open my robe and kneel on my bed to adjust the camera I use to capture my whole frame.

I pick up a remote and start the music app I love before clicking start on my laptop to let the video stream. I adjust myself and get comfortable waiting for anyone to join the chat. As soon as I see the little number box in the corner of the screen light up and the numbers climb, I smile.

“Evening, all.” I wink at the camera and start my little act.