Darker Still by T. S. Worthington

report a crime and the guy thought that he was high and had not seen quite what he said.
    “Man, I know it’s that guy. I know the news. You all try to hide it and keep people in the dark but we got some sicko going around out there killing young women. Holly is the newest one.”
    John smiled. “You are a smart kid, Trevor. I’m sorry if I jumped the gun and assumed that you weren’t telling the entire truth.”
    There was a newspaper lying on John’s desk. Trevor noticed it mostly because of the fact that someone was reading a real paper newspaper and also the front page article was about the last murder. His eyes had somehow independently just landed on one particular spot. Asked to explain this later he was unable to. It didn’t make any sense to him either, but there were stranger things happening in the universe.
    Under the headline of the paper which read “Valley Ripper apprehended? Or still at large?” there was a big picture of a crowd of people standing there and most of them were taking pictures. In the back of the crowd was a very tall man with a big camera. He looked like he might be a freelance photographer or photo journalist by the type of camera he had. He was snapping a picture and the look on his face with the camera that he had reminded Trevor of something very interesting.
    He had seen the man before. Three nights ago actually. And he had seen Holly Janson.
    “I’ve seen that guy before,” Trevor said.
    “What guy? With the camera?”
    “Yea. It was Monday night. He was taking pictures of Holly.”
    “Whoa, wait a minute. I thought you said you hadn’t really seen Holly in like a year and a half.”
    “I haven’t until three nights ago. I forgot because I only caught a glimpse of her and I barely remember that I recognized seeing Holly.”
    “Where?”
    “She was coming out of that diner on Fourth Street. It was about eight at night. She is a hot girl and I was checking her out before I recognized it was her. And that was when I saw a flash in the dark from about half a block away. I recognized that it was coming from a car. I was heading in that direction and as I walked past the car I caught a glimpse of the guy’s face. I don’t think he even noticed me. He seemed like he was so fixated on Holly. And then as soon as she drove off he drove off after her.”
    “Her parents reported her missing when she didn’t come home from class that night,” John said as he pulled up the information about Holly Janson to see if they had anything on her in the computer.
    “That guy did it didn’t he?” Trevor asked. “He killed Holly!”
    “Well, we don’t know for sure, but this might be very helpful information.”
    John patted Trevor lightly on the back. He hit a sore spot where Trevor had recently become acquainted with the stairs yet again; courtesy of his drunk dad and his anger at being woken up because Trevor coughed too loudly.
    Trevor winced as the pain shot through his back.
    “Trevor, are you alright?” John asked.
    “Yea, just an injury from gym class.”
    John appeared to be looking down the back of Trevor’s shirt. Trevor pulled the slack of his shirt tight and tried to ignore what had just happened.
    “So, what happens now?” Trevor asked.
    “Well, we will investigate this and I will call you with any new developments.”
    *
    “Did you get anything from the kid?” Michaels asked as John joined the group at the crime scene.
    “You bet. Not only does he know this girl, but he saw her a few nights ago and he ID’d a guy who was taking strange photos of her with a zoom lens and an expensive camera when it was practically dark. Then the guy drove off after her. That was the night she disappeared too.”
    “Holy shit. This might be the break we need.”
    “I thought that you were so sure that the good professor was the break we needed?” John loved to rub it in when he could.
    “Don’t be a damn smartass. I’m starting to have my doubts about him too. Call it