Free Darkened by S. L. Gavyn

to my notebook. I told Al thanks and headed for the front entrance of the club. There was already a line , and it was only nine-thirty on a weeknight. I skipped the line and went straight to the bouncer. It was the same one that stopped me the other night.
    “Avery Tywella, Human’s Rights task force,” I said as I started to open my badge.
    He didn’t even bother to look at it. Before I was even finished talking he was opening the door for me. I guess I must have made an impression the last time.
     
    I went to the hallway leading back stage, and again, told the guard on duty my name, and before I could open my badge he, too, was opening the door. That was weird. Security usually gave me the hardest time. Well, I certainly wasn’t going to complain about things going my way. I walked into the corridor that lead to various rooms. I had only been in one before so that’s the one I went to first. I really didn’t look forward to talking to Jared, and I was hoping I could talk to at least one of the others before I was forced to confront him.
     
    As luck would have it, Luke was in the room playing video games again. He glanced over as I walked in then took a double take. He was extremely good looking with blonde hair and blue eyes but something about him screamed “geek” to me.
    “Hello, Luke. My name is Avery Tywella. I’m with the Human’s Rights task force , and I would like to ask you a few questions,” I said in my professional voice as I opened my badge and showed him.
    If I was lucky, he wouldn’t remember me from the other night. I’m sure Jared has a different woman each night so it would stand to reason their names would be quickly forgotten.
    “Avery. Yeah, sure, you can ask me questions. I didn’t know you were with the HR task force. Does Jared know you’re here?”
    “I haven’t had a chance to talk with Jared yet. I would prefer to start with you since we’re here.”
     
    We were the only people in the room so it was as good a place to conduct the interview as any. I took a seat on the couch next to him , and he immediately moved further away. I resisted the urge to smell myself. I didn’t see why he would move over. It wasn’t like I sat that close to him.
    “Uh, okay. What do you need to know?” he asked.
    I started off by showing him a picture of Amber Lambert.
    “Do you recognize this woman? Her name is Amber Lambert.”
    He reached out, grabbed the very corner of the picture and pulled it to him to look at it.
    “No. She doesn’t look familiar , and the name doesn’t ring a bell.” He looked at the picture then back to me. “You know, she kind of looks like you. Not as pretty though. Is she missing or something?”
    “She was found murdered in a motel room this morning.” I showed him the picture of Stephen Wilkins. “What about him?”
    I could tell he recognized him immediately.
    He nodded. “Yeah, that’s Stephen. He handles the lighting and sound board for the band. Is he dead too?”
    “Yes, he was found in a dumpster over a week ago. When did you see him last?”
    “Uh, I think he stopped by almost two weeks ago with a friend of his. They talked to Jared about something. I’m not sure why , but his friend filled in for him the last couple of weekends.”
    “How well did you know him? Did he hang out with the band after the shows?”
    “Not too much. He was at a couple of parties that were thrown at the house, but we usually go our separate ways after a set. He seemed like a pretty decent kid. I think he had a crush on Jared, but never did anything about it to my knowledge.”
    That was what his mom pretty much said. I took notes on what he said then pulled my cellphone out and recalled the picture I took of the symbol on the wall. I had tried to look it up but couldn’t find any known symbol in our data base. I showed him the phone.
    “Do you recognize this symbol?”
    “Uh, yeah. It’s a person’s name.”
    Was he purposely trying to be evasive?
    “Whos