The Photographer

Prologue

January 2016, London.....
Iris Evans was still gasping for breath as she entered the flat she shared with her fiancé and slammed the door shut behind her. With her camera still hanging in front of her, safely attached to it's strap that went around her neck, her hands were trembling as she frantically tried to lock the door with the wrong key on her key ring. She swore as the small bunch of keys slipped from her shaky grasp and clattered loudly on to the wooden floor, in her mind she was sure she could hear the footsteps of the two men who'd given chase to her and had all but given away where she was but in truth she'd managed to lose them about fifteen minutes ago. It didn't make her feel any less terrified though.

With the door securely locked and bolted she made her way to her bedroom, closing every pair of curtains as she went. She'd never been so scared in all of her life before, those men could have had weapons; in fact one of them probably did have, she was sure she'd seen the glint of the blade of a knife.

She was still panting and her lungs felt like they were about to pop as she dropped the camera on to the bed and then stood in front of her mirror, taking in her reflection in the now dim light of the room. She looked a mess, her dark brown hair half in and half out of the bun on top of her head, her mascara smeared around her brown coloured eyes and a visible mark on her neck where the strap of her camera had rubbed her skin as she'd ran.

On the bed behind her, visible in the mirrors reflection was her most treasured possession. Her camera had cost her a small fortune and the lenses she'd bought afterwards had cost just as much. For a while her purchase had left her skint and struggling to pay the bills but it had all been worth it once she'd landed a job as a photographer for small London based newspaper.

And now she felt like she had just landed a major scoop.

It had been a case of being in the right place at the right time or a fluke as Iris liked to call it. She'd planned on spending her day off taking some shots around the city to build up her portfolio and had accidentally come across a drugs den where a couple of men were loading up packages into the back of a black BMW. She knew from what she'd heard in the news that the police were after a certain gang who were responsible for supplying drugs that were then sold on all over the city. What she didn't know yet was that she'd got these particular men and some vital evidence on camera and would be the key to their downfall.

She would find that out several months later, in June, when four men were sentenced to ten years in prison. Among them was the leader, the head honcho and key to a large operation - Jason Taylor. With him caught and interviewed by police they'd been able to track and shut down five more dens or 'hubs' as they'd also been known. Iris had been applauded for her work and despite it not being publicised at her request word had spread among various news offices and the job offers had come rolling in.

Soon it was no longer small newspapers that wanted her but larger publications and even magazines. Life took a turn for the better and she no longer had to worry about the bills being paid on time and in the summer of 2020 she married her fiancé, Ben, and became Mrs Anderson.

But she continued to work under maiden name, preferring to be known as Iris Evans. She went from working at a well known newspaper and branched out into sports photography, landing a job as a journalist and photographer at a small, relatively new motorsports magazine. In a way it had been a step backwards for her blossoming career, going from a well known news publication to a new and unknown magazine that might not even last much beyond a few years but it was that had led to her being sent on her dream assignment......