Chapter 107
Him
‘Brandon? What the fuck do you want?’
Brandon feels that spike of anger again, of injustice.
But he needs to find some self-discipline, a skill he’s never excelled at, so he slows to a walk, sucks in a long breath.
‘That last gig I worked on with you,’ he says finally, cool as ice, because it really matters now.
‘The Azione photoshoot. You had an assistant with you.’
‘No I didn’t. I never work with anyone else; Christ, have you forgotten that already?’
Brandon closes his eyes, tries again. ‘A guy taking photos then, stood right next to you. He was shooting with a Fujifilm GFX 100 so he must be a pro.’
‘Oh him,’ Paul mutters. ‘Like a handheld could ever outperform a Hasselblad. He was nothing to do with me, part of Maple Clark’s crew, filming content for her socials.’
Brandon frowns. ‘You’re sure?’
‘That’s what he told me.’
‘But the mom does all that,’ Brandon continues. ‘Maple’s always saying so on her posts; and I remember her crediting her mom for the content she posted from the photoshoot.’
‘Well I don’t fucking know,’ Paul shoots back. ‘I don’t follow teenagers on TikTok.’
The accusation is there, in the silence. Brandon moves on. ‘Do you know his name then? Where he lives?’
‘He introduced himself as Jake. That’s all I know.
Although now I think about it, he asked for your name too, right after you pulled that weird face and broke my diffuser.
And actually, I’m pretty sure he took some pictures of you as well.
Like he was really into you. Maybe he thinks you’ve got modeling potential. ’ Paul cracks a laugh.
‘So did you tell him my name?’ Brandon asks, his heart beating faster now.
‘Of course. Why? You got something to hide?’
Brandon sits in his truck. He needs to make sense of it all, but it’s tough, too many brain cells killed by alcohol to cope with shit like this.
A man called Jake has taken Maple. But he got her to meet him in Vegas, which is his, Brandon’s, hometown.
And he was wearing a Raiders cap, which is his, Brandon’s, team.
And the fucker knows his name because he asked Paul for it.
And he took photos of him. Brandon grinds his teeth.
Is he being set up for this? Expected to take the fall for Maple’s disappearance?
Then it hits him. He slams his palms against the steering wheel and blinks with the effort.
There was that guy Dylan mentioned on their channel.
Brandon in the sky. He thought it was a freaky coincidence at the time; he didn’t get the sky reference at all.
But that must have been Jake, pretending to be him, luring Maple with bullshit about Ella.
And of course Maple would go with him; her dumb teenage brain labeling it a risk worth taking.
He was happy to take a risk when the spoils were high, but go down without the prize? No. He’s not doing that.
He needs to find her. Find him.
But how?
A photographer called Jake isn’t much to go on.
Except Maple didn’t have much to go on when she started looking for Ella. Nor did Dylan when he put out that plea to find Coco. Brandon prefers to lurk on social media, not post or comment, but if it will help get him to Maple, that’s different.
He opens TikTok, creates a new profile – Paul.Evans32 with a photo of his ex-boss because fuck him – then follows twenty random people and prays they follow him back, make his profile look more legit. Then he opens Dylan’s latest post and comments.
I recognize this guy. He’s called Jake and he’s a pro photographer but that’s all I know. Anyone else got any ideas? Man, I really want to help Dylan find his girl.
Dylan’s girl. He’s not comfortable writing that, but if it makes people more likely to help, it’s worth it. And maybe it works, because the responses start coming through straight away.
This is awesome! I hope someone knows more.
Photographer? That figures. Taking indecent images of children, I bet.
This account only has seven followers, got to be a bot.
Wait, @codybriarsss could this be the guy taking photos of your sister up close when she was mugged in Venice Beach?
Yo, I know this dude. He hangs around Watts with a sigma camera, like he’s got a death wish or something.
Omg there’s a guy that does that here in North Town! Same guy maybe?
Guys, this is definitely a bot. Ignore.
So I bought a picture of the Mojave Desert online from a photographer called Jake who had dozens of that area. I’m not saying more on here in case it isn’t him, but @Dy1anD0pe, DM me.
Brandon grinds his teeth. Of course the TikToker would trust Dylan more than him.
No one ever trusts him with the truth, do they?
Not when it really matters anyway. He clicks his tongue.
The Mojave Desert is fifty thousand square miles of dying land.
He’ll never be able to find Maple in that vast nothingness.
But then a new comment appears.
My dad did the Route 66 centennial road trip a few weeks ago and he got talking to a local guy with an aura camera in Bagdad Café and I just asked him AND IT IS THIS GUY!
Brandon stares at the message for a second or two longer than it requires to digest. Then a smile spreads across his face. Bagdad Café, from the movie.
Fucking hell, has he almost found Maple?
He rams the truck into gear and accelerates onto the highway, heading for Newberry Springs.