Page 44 of Long Time Gone

Nora pointed behind her.

“I still use it every now and then, mostly for nostalgia. I enjoy the process. But Annabelle adored it and couldn’t get enough.”

“Explain it to me.”

Nora smiled, and as she explained the nuances of photography, Sloan got the impression that she missed her old friend.

“You take a photo today with your phone’s camera and get instant feedback. You can tell immediately whether the picture is good or bad. Same thing with modern digital cameras. They have a display screen that will show the photographer if the image is clear or blurry, overexposed or just right, and a hundred other factors that enable the user to decide to save or delete the photo. But back in the day you had to press and pray. You’d look through the viewfinder of the camera, frame the image, press the shutter button, and pray everything turned out perfectly. You wouldn’t know, however, until the film was developed. Most folks used to drop their film off at photo studios or drugstores to be developed. A few days later, their pictures came back, and they’d shuffle through an envelope just like the one you’re holding to see how their photos turned out.”

“Sounds archaic.”

“Compared to today’s technology, it was. But it was also thrilling. For the general consumer, it was exciting to get photos back and see how they turned out. For me, and for Annabelle when she went into the darkroom, it was an obsession. In the darkroom, the images captured on film were projected onto photo paper and only became visible when the paper was submerged in a bath of chemicals. Then, the image slowly came to life, gradually appearing like a living, breathing thing being born. And when the photo was of something special or magnificent, the process was electrifying. Like I said, Annabelle had a passion for the darkroom.”

Nora smiled and shook her head.

“Will you listen to me? I’m boring you to death.”

“Not at all,” Sloan said. “I’m intrigued to hear what my birth mother was so passionate about.”

Nora raised her eyebrows.

“I could show you, if you’re interested.”

“How to develop film?”

Nora nodded. “Yes. In the darkroom.”

“I’d love that.”

“Hold on,” Nora said.

She hurried over to the counter and grabbed a camera.

“Stand up,” Nora said as she walked back to Sloan.

Sloan stood and Nora peered through the viewfinder of the camera and pointed it at Sloan.

“Smile.”

Sloan offered the camera a huge grin and heard the shutter rattle as Nora snapped a photo.

“Come on,” Nora said. “I’ll show you how we used to do it.”

CHAPTER 29

Raleigh, North Carolina Sunday, July 28, 2024

RYDER HILLIER DROVE THE RENTAL CAR OUT OF THE RALEIGH International Airport. She’d done her research, tapped her sources, and had the address to Sloan Hastings’s apartment on her GPS. A twenty-minute drive led her to the tree-lined street and into the parking lot of the three-story complex. She took a minute to get herself settled by attaching the microphone to her collar and setting up the video display on her smartphone before she exited the vehicle and climbed the stairs to Sloan Hastings’s apartment.

After three rounds of knocking, Ryder cupped her hands and peered through the window next to the door. The blinds were open, and she could see into the small apartment. The lights were off with no activity inside. She headed back to her car to wait. As the hours passed without a baby Charlotte sighting, Ryder knew she needed to move to Plan B.

CHAPTER 30

Cedar Creek, Nevada Sunday, July 28, 2024

A RED LIGHT AT THE CORNER OF THE WORKSTATION CAST THE DARKROOM into a shade of crimson.

“Ambient light will ruin the photo paper and destroy the images captured on the film,” Nora said. “Red light is safe, so that’s what we work by in here.”

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