I sat down across from the captain with my hands clutched together, resting on the table. Liam sat hunched over focusing on his work, taking the occasional swig of his cool beer. I sat, staring at him as if I was a stalker. The captain seemed to completely ignore my existence, only focusing on his work.
We seemed to be in our own isolated bubble. Everyone ignored us and we ignored them. It was clear that I had to initiate and control the conversation.
"Captain, we need to talk." He perched his head up in curiosity. He sighed and put his pen down. He was visibly frustrated at the fact that he couldn't finish his work.
"Captain, you don't know me. But I know you. And we need to talk."
"What does this pertain to? I'm kind of busy."
"The H-town eye gouger."
His eyes shot open wide. I saw his pupils dilate. Now I have his attention. He sat still, looking directly into my eyes. Excitement gleaming beneath his brown eyes.
"You have my attention." Breath shuddering with excitement.
"Captain Henderson, I'm with the FBI, and they've sent me down to Houston to help with the investigation."
"The FBI? So soon I thought we had some more time before the big boys came down."
"Unfortunately captain the high kill count this past month has alarmed my superiors and they want to quell the killings down immediately."
"Damn... Alright, what do you need me to do?"
"First, I would like us to exchange contact information, and I would like to verify that you are indeed Captain Henderson."
"What? Why would you need to confirm that I'm the captain of the Houston police department?"
"It's for safe measures."
The captain looked confused for a second but quickly dismissed what I said. He pulled out his sleek black wallet from his brown trench coat and handed me his driver's license. Then he pulled out his police badge and gave it to me to hold.
I held both, side by side acting as if I was checking for authenticity but in truth, I was looking for something else. I didn't think it would be so easy, but I managed to acquire his information. I hastily read all his information and logged it into my mind.
His name, date of birth, height, weight, and more importantly address, were all sealed into my memory bank to be used later.
I handed Captain Henderson his Driver's license and police badge back and began the next step of my plan. If all this went well then, I would be good as butter on toast.
"Here Captain, my driver's license and my-"
"No need, I believe you. After all no weirdo would ever impersonate an FBI agent."
"Oh ok."
What?
He doesn't want my information?
I swiftly put my fake driver's license and FBI badge away and sat still, looking at the Houston police captain, my eyes soft with curiosity.
A well know police Captain with one of the highest solve rates of any police officer in the state of Texas doesn't want to exchange information for safe measure. I felt my brain flowing in a state of curiosity.
The image I had of this guy in my head was completely different from the guy I see now. From the very beginning, he was out there, making bold words on tv without considering what might happen to him, leaving his work for others to see, without trying to hide what I can only assume is valuable work information, and not accepting an exchange of personal information.
He's a fraud, I concluded. Everything clicked together almost perfectly. If he was the genius police officer that managed to solve dozens of incredibly hard cases, then he would have accepted the exchange but instead he chose to ignore it.
Someone must be controlling things from behind the scenes, a true genius who wouldn't risk exposing himself to the public. They used the police captain as a way to figure out my identity and if that was true then he must be following the captain.
This was bad. I may have inadvertently exposed myself to the person hiding in the shadows. I carefully took in my surroundings, looking ever so slightly at the people nearby. Nobody caught my eye. Everyone looked like an ordinary cop to me.
Damn, they got me good. How could I not have foreseen this. A moment of slight discomfort came over me, something that I wasn't used to.
I glanced up, staring directly into the eyes of Captain Henderson. I hated this feeling. The idea that someone had bested me began to pick at me. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, my clothes felt tight, my eyes heavy, and my jaw clenched together.
But then… I realized I could turn this around.
This guy isn't very smart. I could use him to get information on the case and potentially on the true genius hiding behind the scenes. I just need to play my card right.
"Captain. This is important. We need to get down to business."
I had his complete attention, unlike before where it felt like him talking to me was a chore, I had his full enthusiastic cooperation. Now I had to play my cards right.
"As you know I'm with the FBI and I'm here investigating the H-town eye gouger case. But there is something else that I have not told you yet… one of your officers… I believe that they are the killer."
"WHAT!" The captain shot up, eyes in shock, unable to process what I just said.
The fellow officers turned to look at the commotion and saw Captain Henderson seething with anger. A couple of them walked up to the table, faces red and cheeks blushed. They were not angry they were drunk.
I raised my hand and tried to wave them off. They stood still, looking at Captain Henderson for approval. He quickly saw the scene he was building up and waved off the officers. They would return back to the bar to finish their rounds of drinking.
Captain Henderson went back down to his seat. His face was seething anger but something in his eyes told me I got him.
"Listen I know you don't want to hear this but its true. When I first arrived in Houston I was tasked with a secret operation from my superiors to gather information about the H-town eye gouger. When I had gathered sufficient amount of information on the situation down here I was to be sent back to D.C and eventually the FBI would take over, based on how bad the situation was over here."
"And how did you come to conclusion that one of my guys are involved?"
"Let me ask you, why do you think the killer hasn't been caught? How has the killer been able to kill so many people in a short amount of time, what gives him an advantage of ordinary people."
Captain Henderson sat in silence thinking to himself. A look of perplexion was smeared across his face. He wasn't getting it. I had to steer him in the right direction.
"Look captain Henderson, cops hold authority that an ordinary citizen doesn't. Simply seeing a badge will make anyone compliant towards a complete stranger."
"Oh.. I see."
"Good captain. I know that it's a cop but I have one issue…"
"You don't know which cop it is."
"Exactly. And until I know I can't reveal my identity."
His once seething anger had finally quelled down, he had been roped into my lie. Now I had hammer down my final point.
"I need you on my side. I don't know who to trust in the Houston Police department and you're the only one I confirmed as good, I can't even trust the chief of police."
"…Ok…but if we do this then we have to exchange phone numbers in the event of an emergency. If one of my guys is truly a cop then the whole department will be in danger and it's my responsibility to protect them."
"Deal, but I also have two conditions. The first one is that you can't under any circumstances tell anyone, and I mean anyone. The second is that I need information on the guys within the department, if I can get a good read on your men then I can tail them and confirm if any of them are related to the killer."
"Alright, when is a good time to meet again?"
"I'll call you and set up a meeting in a secure location."
"Sounds good."
As I got up from my seat I said one last thing to the captain, to ensure that I had his complete cooperation.
"Remember Captain don't trust anyone within the department, not even the people you consider your closest friends."
I fully turned my back to the captain and left within a crowd of drunk cops. Today was good, I now have a stable source of information on the Houston police department and have the backing of the police captain.
Today was a truly good day.
….
From the distance was a sleek black Honda that sat eerily in the dark, watching the bar like a hawk watching it's prey. Their eyes were strained red from exhaustion and something else…something darker. With binoculars in hand, the person in the shadows felt a burning feeling in their chest. Anger.
So much anger.
"What is HE doing?" The persons hands curled up into fists. Veins bursting from anger. They bit down on their lip, blood trickled down, like water droplets. Their anger was unlike anything they've ever experienced and that anger was directed at one person. Captain Henderson.
"I'm gonna kill him. That fucking disgusting bastard. He's a threat, he trying to harm HIM, and I can't let that happen."
Setting the binoculars down, the person in the sleek black sedan began gnawing at their nails, eyes darting back and forth trying to figure out what to do.
Without saying anything the person drove off. Hands white from gripping the wheel, Muttering something intangible. From the eyes of a potential onlooker, it looked like whoever was in that black sedan lost their mind. Luckily for that person nobody was nearby.
Whoever this person is, had intentions yet known to Trevor, but he would soon know their name.
A name he would never forget.
TREVOR
Walking home I could smell the scent of sour, dull alcohol lingering in my mouth.
The smell was not strong enough to be sensed by a third party; however, I did not want to take a gamble and have my parents spot the smell of alcohol on my breath. So, on my way home I stopped by a convenience store.
Walking into the dimly lit quick stop, I spotted a young teenage clerk, around my age, sitting lazily at the register reading a magazine. Shuffling though the aisles I grabbed a pack of gum and a cheap bottle of strawberry scented perfume.
After I found what I needed, I encountered a face I did not expect. A rather innocent looking girl wearing glasses, baggy sweats, and a loose white t-shirt, stood in front of me. She held a large blue Tampax box in one hand and a bag of ripoff Doritos in the other. Her name was Mindy.
"Hi. I feel like we know each other?"
"Yea we go to the school and have a class together, Ms. Monroe."
"Oh right, your name is Trevor. I'm Mindy."
"I remember you Mindy, its impossible for anyone to forget such a cute face."
Her face turned beet red. She attempted to hide the box of Tampax behind her overly large t-shirt. She set her knockoff Doritos on an empty shelf and began to twirl her hair using her index finger. I threw a fake smile at her which caused her to blush even more.
"S-so Trevor… d-do you u-um h-have a g-girlfriend…?" A moment of silence filled the air.
"Haha, unfortunately I don't. I'm still looking for the right one for me."
"O-oh cool… w-well I gotta go, I hope to see you in class."
"I'll see you in class Mindy."
Mindy scurried away, leaving behind her bag of fake Doritos and rushing to pay for her box of tampons. I stood in the aisle watching as she payed for her feminine product. Before she left, I saw as she looked back at me once more. Cheeks blushed, eyes glinting with attraction, I gave her one of my usual smiles and watched as she walked into the darkness.
My smile quickly faded. I had to hurry home before it got too late. Walking up to the register I quickly paid for my items and left. As soon as my shoes touched the broken concrete slabs of the outside, I popped 5 sticks of gum into my mouth and emptied a quarter of the perfume bottle. The strong chemicals stuck to my clothes like a parasite sticking to a healthy host.
As I neared my house I began to burn through the bottle of cheaply scented perfume.
The smell was intoxicating. It smelled as if I spent the day with a girl from my school, as I had hoped.
When I reached the street that led to my house, I pulled out the remnants of the perfume and sprayed it all over my body before throwing it in a nearby trash can. Going down the street, I spotted a lack of people. Looking at my watch, I saw that I had 5 minutes left until the curfew went into effect.
I hurriedly rushed to my house, key dangling in hand, sweat dripping from my head. In the corner of my eye, I spotted people peeping through their curtains, watching as I rushed home.
When I reached my egg white door, I shoved my golden corrugated key into the bottom lock. With one turn to the left a satisfying click overcame my ears and the door creaked open.
Walking into my house I saw my stepmom standing in the dark, she wore a long black dress, her hair was tied together in a bun, and she had an apron covered in flowers wrapped around her waist. She didn't say anything, but I could sense that she was angry.
"Hey. Sorry I'm late me and my friend lost track of time."
"…."
"Mom?"
Suddenly my stepmom ran towards me. Her arms wrapped around my body almost as if she were terrified that something bad had happened to me. I could feel the warmth from her body tightly squeeze against me all the while a wet substance had dripped against my shirt.
"Mom? What's going on? Why are you crying?"
"Trevor, I thought something bad happened to you. You left home early to hang out with a friend and took forever to come back. I was so worried that the serial killer had gotten to you. You can't do that again. Please don't make me worry about you so much."
"I'm so sorry mom, I didn't mean to scare you. Me and my friend just lost track of time and… I'm sorry mom it won't happen again, I promise."
"You promise?"
"Yes, I promise."
"That's good, I just want you to be safe, especially with that monster running around."
"Honey what's going on." My father said. His voice was detached from what a concerned fathers voice should be.
"Darling don't worry about it Trevor just came home, he was just out with his… friend… just go back to eating dinner." My stepmom said as her arms were still wrapped around my body and her face rubbed against my chest.
"Hmmm… he's a big boy don't baby him."
"Do you not care what happens to him? There's a mass murderer out there? He could get hurt or worse… die." My stepmom said with fear in her eyes.
"Whatever." My father said before he left to finish his dinner
"…Trevor… I need to ask. Which friend were you hanging out with?"
"Hmm, oh I was with Thomas and his girlfriend. He just got one and wanted to show her off."
"Oh, Thomas has a girlfriend I didn't know. Good for him. I think you should go eat some dinner, I bet your hungry… plus I made your favorite."
"Alright mom let me just get changed."
"Ok sweetie."
I left to get changed in my room.
But I didn't notice it…
The darkness in my stepmoms eyes.