Second chances Book 3/6

Chapter 10

Cameron watches Carrie and Aaron's car drive away. Carrie forcibly slipped a handful of dollars into her pocket before giving her a long hug and wishing her good luck. God knows she needed that dose of love.

She settles against a tree in a park, anonymous. A glance at her map and at the table of distances between cities tells her that she is exactly 2,000 kilometers from Los Angeles. Two thousand! Cameron despairs. She wonders how many kilometers she is able to walk per day. Twenty? No, probably more. She begins to calculate and deduces that if she walks forty kilometers a day, it will take fifty days to arrive, so two months. Unless she find a good Samaritan!

Reaching into her pocket, Cameron pulls out the tickets Carrie gave her. She has sixty dollars, a fortune. But Cameron was raised with good values, she knows she has to be careful, that she doesn't spend this money unnecessarily, out of respect for Carrie's generosity. Her priority is to find a safe place to sleep, so look for an industrial zone, then she will advise. Cameron has food for tonight, at least what's in the lunch box in the cooler bag, the rest she knows she has to throw away or get sick. Tomorrow, she will go get something to eat. Cameron aims to be more attentive to her environment, to the signs that could be on her way, without attracting attention, and to buy pants, this one scratches.

Looking around, she notices a man folding the newspaper and approaching a trash can.

No!

"Sir, are you done with the newspaper?" she asks, approaching. "You were going to throw it away? Can I read it, please?

— Of course," replies the man, smiling, handing it to her.

Cameron's secondary mission is to collect as many items as possible about her sister, she must find out what happened! If she's been kidnapped or killed, she swears to hunt down those who hurt her! She swears it by clutching the cross which is around her neck.

No one has the right to steal my future!

Returning to seat against her tree, Cameron reads the article on the first page, then she refers to the following pages in the arts section. There's nothing new. Since the release of her record, Kate Valentine has not appeared in any media. Her producer has no news, nor her assistant. She just vanished. Journalists believe she will reappear in a few days as a publicity stunt to increase sales of her album, although she doesn't need it. Everyone agrees that this is the best album of her career, each song was immediately ranked among the best songs of the year, some are already among the most beautiful songs of the last fifty years. The album sweeps away everything in its path. Cameron is worried, sad and happy at the same time. Her sister is really the best, she thinks. If only she could tell her how proud she is of herself.

Journalists and all kinds of specialists wonder about the dedications left by Kate. An A, a T, and her adoptive family. The concerned must know, but no one knows who it is. Cameron learns that according to the producer, it's a request from Kate, and that he does not know anything about it either. She folds up the newspaper and slips it into her backpack, saving it to cut out the articles later, when she has found shelter for the night, or even her next nights.

Cameron sits up, eyes determined, and sets off, moving away from the park, the buildings, then the inhabited areas. She studies the first company she meets, a school bus company. Too much back and forth according to her, and there will be people early. She continues on her way, the sun begins to set. Cameron pulls the knife out of the side pocket of her backpack, and she slips it into her sleeve, ready to grab it for self-defense. She is now armed and will protect herself from any aggression. She was in a big city that had nothing to do with what she knew.

A delicious smell tickles her senses. Her stomach goes into "feed me and fast" mode and comes out loudly. The further she goes, the more she salivates. Is there a restaurant in this alley? It would be a strange place. Cameron notices a Food Truck in a parking lot, decorated like an old-fashioned, fifties-style advertisement with a woman holding a plate and a Mom's logo, she also notices two delivery vans. Cameron quietly approaches the parking lot, a sign on a gate indicates Mom's catering, the same name is written on the two vans. A door is ajar, and as it gets darker, Cameron doesn't hesitate and enters the caterer's building. She will have access to a roof for this night, a toilet, and perhaps food. Cameron's priority is to rest and watch her leg, maybe change her bandage. She is sure that here she will find clean clothes to clean herself. It's her best option for the night.