Thanks for the concern, dick. “I’m good.” I put on a mask of professionalism while my skin practically vibrates with nervous energy.
“Standby.”
I take my position, smooth my hair, and focus on my words.
If all goes well I’ll get out of this hole-in-hell town and into a bigger market, which is one step closer to anchor. No one just out of college gets this kind of an opportunity. My professors always encouraged me to go for an anchor job, my half native American blood making me look just dark enough to be considered a minority, but light enough to be desirable. It’s total bullshit, but I don’t make the rules, can’t hate a girl for taking advantage though. I have very specific career goals and if using my ethnicity helps me to get there, so be it.
My momma always said I was meant for big things. I can still hear her voice in my head. You’re too big for this world, Shyann. Said I came out of the womb with goals and never stopped reaching for them. My chest cramps at the pride my momma would feel if she were alive today. She’d always pushed me to chase my dreams. God, I hope she can see me now.
“We’re on in five…four…”
I straighten my coat and look directly into the camera as Trevor counts down in my ear.
This is for you, Momma.
“…you’re on!”
“Terror struck this quaint Flagstaff neighborhood as big city crime moves north. After several assaults on women in Phoenix, all with identical trademarks, police have now moved their investigation to neighboring cities as another victim surfaces. The name of this most recent victim hasn’t been released, but her age, socio-economic profile, and details of the crime fit other victims of who Phoenix police are now calling The Shadow. All the assaults are committed in the evening hours, with no witnesses, and the perpetrator is masked and wears gloves leaving no evidence behind. The call to this house came in shortly after eight pm when the woman who lives in this home behind me was found bloodied and unconscious—”
“There’s movement in the doorway,” Trevor says.
“…after a frantic nine-one-one call.”
“No! Let me go!” A young girl, a teenager, is practically carried out of the house by an officer. Leaf swings the camera to her. She’s curled into the chest of an older police man, her shoulders bouncing as she sobs.
“Shyann!” Trevor’s voice booms through my earpiece making me jump. “Keep talking. Leaf, get us a visual on the girl.”
“Oh, uh, it seems a…” The girl’s face twists in agony and I swallow past the thickness in my throat. “A girl who—”
“Mom, no…please, mom!” Her guttural shriek pierces the air.
Another fissure slices through my chest letting air into an old wound.
Emotionless. Stay distant, Shyann.
“Seems to be the victim’s daughter—”
“She can’t be dead.” The girl pleads with police. “Oh, God, please…”
The girl’s pain reaches through my chest and squeezes my heart. My throat grows tight. The backs of EMTs shuffle out the door carrying a stretcher.
“Mommy!”
I ignore the girl as best I can and trudge on. “It seems, um…they’re—”
“No!” The girl throws her body on the stretcher and it’s then I notice the woman on it is covered in a white sheet. Completely covered. Even her face.
Oh God. She’s dead.
Trevor’s voice growls in my ear. “Dammit, she’s dead. This might not be related to The Shadow, but keep the camera on the EMTs. This makes for great TV.”
My stomach churns with unease.
“Talk! Shyann!”
I nod. “It seems, tragedy has taken a turn…um…for the…”
The young girl launches herself at the body again. The police hold her back while she kicks and screams for her mother.
My breath catches as I see myself mourning the loss of my mother when I needed her the most. Losing control of my body, kicking and wanting to inflict the kind of pain I was feeling. The heart-pumping panic, sudden coldness that blankets overheated skin causing uncontrollable shivers. And the terror, all of it shoots through me now like it did when I’d lost my momma.
“Shyann! Get up there, talk to her!” The levity in Trevor’s voice ignites my blood, replacing my frigid panic. “This is fucking gold.”
Leaf moves to get a better view and jerks his wide eyes for me get into the shot. I turn back studying the girl, remembering the confusion, the heartbreak, the all-consuming unfairness.
“Please don’t die…” Her anger turns to sobs of devastation so palpable they shake my foundation.