Not Without Risk by Sarah Grimm Read Free Book Online Page A

pants up her legs and fastened them. She slipped into a black, tank-style camisole,
     followed by the snug, fitted blazer. She glanced in the mirror.
    Immediately her mood improved. She appearedprofessional, together, just as she preferred to, as she needed to on a day like today,
     when she felt anything but together. The cool, collected exterior was a ruse, but
     a necessary one. She couldn’t conduct business, convince people of her ability to
     get the job done, if they thought the slightest breeze would blow her over. She couldn’t
     meet Lucinda Amelia Perenna presentinganything but her best.
    Today was an important day for her, important enough to command the façade. Finally,
     after years of struggle, her work was receiving the recognition it deserved. Word
     of her talent, her ability to find and then showcase the unique individual within,
     had spread. It wouldn’t be long now and she would have the success she strove for.
     She knew this, for last week she’d received the one phone call that would make it
     happen for her.
    Enter Lucinda Amelia Perenna, an immigrant who married well and grew to become one
     of the most influential women in San Diego. Recently widowed, she’d taken over her
     husband’s money and used it to speak out against racial prejudice. Ms. Perenna had
     power and spent her life in the public eye. She had connections, knew all the right
     people…
    And she’d called Conroy Photography to commission her self-portrait.
    It continued to addle Paige’s mind. Her, Ms. Perenna had contacted her! This was her
     chance. The chance she’d been working for, the chance to prove herself. For if—no when , she corrected—when she completed this assignment, delivering to Ms. Perenna a finished
     product both women could be proud of, she would know true success. Her name would
     make its way into the upper echelons of San Diego society and her business would grow.
    She smiled as she slipped into a pair of black pumps. She’d dreamed of this moment
     for so long…since that day so many years ago when she’d first peered through a camera
     viewfinder and discovered why she saw the world so differently from the other girls
     her age. She’d fought self-doubt, ignored the criticism of those who set out to defeat
     her, for this very moment. This was the beginning of many wonderful things to come.
    A smile on her face, heels clicking across the hardwood floor, Paige made her way
     to the stairs and down to her studio. Anticipation filled her as she crossed to her
     darkroom—the place she’d sought refuge in after Sergeant Harrison’s departure the
     night before. Sleep evaded her and so she’d done the only thing she knew would relax
     her—she’d worked. Her worries forgotten amidst the task before her, she’d worked long
     into the night without pause. Now, she would view her end result.
    Several eight-by-tens hung from the drying line, but even from this distance, Paige
     easily identified her favorite. The nude of the woman with her back to the camera
     was her best work yet. It captured both the woman’s disposition, turned away from
     the world about her, and the woman’s beauty. The former was obvious upon first meeting
     Gabrielle Sumner. She’d grown up on the street, struggling to show the world she was
     more, then quickly building barriers against those unable to see past her circumstances.
     The latter, Paige knew her client would not expect to see.
    Gently, still weighing each photograph’s strengths and weaknesses, she removed them
     from the drying line. She stacked her favorites and carried them with her out into
     the studio in search of her briefcase. Along the way, she also collected her cell
     phone, proof sheets and a notepad. She shoved all but the phone into her briefcase,
     grabbed her car keys and headed for the door.
    She was already in her car, sunglasses perched atop her nose and engine idling, before
     she realized she hadn’t activated her building’s