Chapter 2

"Hi, is this 911? I need to report a theft. I just lost a camera with a built-in anti-theft tracker, worth over ten thousand dollars. I already have its exact location."

My information was clear, so the police responded fast and came along to help me recover it.

But the tracker kept moving.

One second it jumped from a college women's dorm to some trendy influencer restaurant, then to a French bistro, and finally settled at a couples' hotel.

I couldn't say what I felt sitting in the back of the patrol car, on edge the whole way, my head already filling with pictures I didn't want to see.

Even the officers could tell something was off with me. Nobody spoke the whole ride. They just waited for the traffic to clear so they could get to that hotel.

After nearly twenty minutes stuck in traffic, we finally reached the hotel.

I gave Clark's name at the front desk, but nothing came up.

So I tried Nora Larsen's name instead, and the desk got a hit right away.

"Yeah, she checked in not long ago. She's already gone up to her room. Looked like she was carrying something, a big box."

I went upstairs with the officers. We knocked several times before Nora finally opened the door, taking her sweet time and complaining the whole while.

"Knock, knock, knock, what is it already? Do you have to be so annoying?"

She smelled sweet and had done up her makeup carefully. She'd been in the middle of a full-on temper, but she reined it in a lot once she saw the officers.

"What is it? I didn't break any law. What do you want with me? We're just filming a Lolita fashion review. Is that something you have to investigate now?"

I glanced past her into the room. No sign of Clark.

But the room had been set up on purpose, roses and a cake on the floor, a few girls in Lolita dresses posing.

And on the floor there was a camera, taken apart. The one I'd given Clark.

"That's my stolen camera."

I pointed inside at it and told the officers, plainly.

"There's an order number on it. It'll match my purchase record."

The officers didn't waste time. They told Nora straight out that something was wrong with the camera, that it was stolen property.

"Stolen property? What the hell? An admirer gave that to me. I only just got it. I don't know anything about this!"

A wave of gasps came from behind her. Nora's friends were all snickering at her, half-convinced she'd stolen the camera to show off.

Nora heard it and hit the roof. She called Clark right then and there!

"Clark, the camera you gave me is stolen property? You've humiliated me. What are you even doing? The police tracked me down, they've wrecked my whole plan."

Clark was stunned too. Not a minute later, my phone was ringing off the hook, like he'd lost his mind.

I didn't pick up once. I went back to the station with the police to give my statement.

It dragged on until eight that night before the whole thing finally settled.

Nora's makeup was ruined, her Lolita dress damp with sweat, a few stains on the hem now, and she was stamping her foot in fury.

Clark came tearing into the station and grabbed Nora the moment he saw her, not once noticing me sitting off to the side.

"Ugh, this is a limited-edition Lolita set, the whole thing costs a fortune, and I have to mail it back after the shoot. Now this stupid camera has thrown everything off!"

Nora clung to Clark, whining and playing it up, and it was enough to break my heart, let alone his.

"Clark, what am I supposed to do! The hotel room I booked is wasted, I got hauled off to a police station, and my friends are going to laugh at me when I go back. It's so humiliating."