Six Degrees of Lust (3 page)

my list to ten vehicles. I’m looking into them, but I can tell you

I’m most interested in this particular van that has a Chosen Trash

Removal, Inc. sign on its side. I have it crossing the Holland

Tunnel, Bayonne, Goethals, Throgs Neck, Brooklyn, and

Whitestone bridges as frequently as six times in the same week

around the time of each murder. I can also place it on the New

Jersey Turnpike and several traffic lights around the city.”

“Probably looking for victims,” said Bobbi. “Or dump sites.”

“The Holland Tunnel is near Tangerine. That could have been

the escape route. Any idea where he went after?” asked Zane.

“Staten Island as far as I can tell,” answered Mik. “Here’s the

thing, Chosen Trash Removal, Inc. hasn’t been registered in any

state. It doesn’t exist, and I can’t trace the van to any specific

owner. The plates are always different. I’ve talked to the people

who reported them stolen but there’s no connection between

them either.”

“See if you can place the van near any art supplies stores in

the city and local business in Staten Island and put out a BOLO

with the NYPD,” ordered Sam. “Considering how many times

he’s been through the Goethals and Bayonne bridges, there’s a

14 Taylor V. Donovan

huge chance he’s been operating out of there. With a name like

‘Chosen Trash Removal’ I’m willing to bet my left nut that’s our

guy.”

“He’s most likely not a local,” said Duncan. “Serial killers start

out close to where they live or work because they feel emotionally

comfortable there. They’d also start in a smaller way—stalking,

theft, rape, just to give a few examples, and eventually murder.

Lev is organized. There is premeditation and he’s in total control

of the crime scenes, always leaving few to no clues. He’s done

this before. We need to move cross-referencing what we’ve got

so far with similar crimes on the national database to the top of

our to-do list.”

“Right.” Sam and Logan nodded in agreement. “Get on that

ASAP.”

“Upload is complete, guys,” announced Bobbi. “Let’s take a

closer look at what we found today.”

Six heads turned simultaneously towards the fifty-two inch

HD monitor used to display digital documents, and for a few

minutes nobody said a word.

No matter how accustomed Sam was to the often grimy,

bloody, disturbing images they encountered in their line of work,

his stomach still turned every time they came across a new one,

and although this particular victim’s body was in good shape,

Sam knew the rest of the guys were just as affected by the sight

as he was.

“There’s the fire again,” observed Logan, eyes fixed on a

picture of the canvas. “Those are some angry flames he painted.”

“He used a different verse this time,” said Kostas. “‘But you

were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name

of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.’” Sam saw

him read from his notepad and then look at the part of the board

where all the verses were written. “First time Lev’s left that one.”

“It’s not Leviticus,” said Kowalski. “And it is incomplete. I’ll

let you know the rest as soon as it comes to me.”

“Fitting, I must say, with all the washing and sanctification

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15

and the body being recovered from the water.” Sam concluded.

“The sanctification of who, though? The victims or Lev?”

Zane wondered, his eyes fixed on the verse.

“My money’s on Lev,” Logan said.

“Today’s victim’s name is Daniel Harper,” Bobbie said. “He

was reported missing by a friend when he failed to show up to

the office two days in a row. They went to Tangerine together.

This guy told the police his friend was being chatted up by some

guy near the first floor bar the last time he caught a glimpse of

him.”

“I’ll talk to the friend,” Zane said. “If we’re lucky, that’s a

description of Lev.”

“What’s your take on the canvas he used to wrap the victim

with, Duncan?” Logan asked.

Because the pieces of canvas found before were about

sixteen inches square and only big enough for the perp to write

the biblical passages and paint some flames on, this canvas had

tremendous significance. If they could figure out why this victim

had gotten special treatment, so to speak, they’d get one step

closer to Lev.

“We have a rather disturbing rendition of the four horses of

the Apocalypse, with the three symbolizing pestilence, war, and

famine looking distorted in the background while the pale horse

symbolizing death takes front and center. That’s clear enough,

but the fire isn’t.” Duncan rubbed his face with his hands and

focused on the picture of the canvas. “In the Bible, fire is given

a spiritual use and is attributed to God. Sacrifices and offerings

were made by fire as well, so this victim could be just that, a

sacrifice.”

“You mean he sacrificed this victim to God, as opposed to

punish him for his homosexuality?” Bobbi asked.

“It could be either,” Sam answered. “Fire is often associated

with hell, God’s everlasting punishment.” He got up and

approached the HD monitor, eyes fixed on the picture of the

canvas recovered from the river. “But Lev has studied the Bible

16 Taylor V. Donovan

and there’s a chance he sees it in a different light. Rather than

destroy, fire would cleanse and purify. Take a look at the flames.

Same design, same exact pattern in all the drawings. We need to

find out if he’s copying it from somewhere and figure out why,

because those flames mean something. They’re always the same.”

“‘But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified

in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our

God.’” Bobbi repeated the verse. “If he used the fire to symbolize

cleansing and sanctification, what does the washing mean?”

“Some kind of penitence?” asked Mik, her attention back on

her computer.

“Could be either penitence or atonement,” answered Zane.

“Question is, what is he atoning for? The rapes or the killings?”

“‘Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the

kingdom of God?’” The preaching tone of Duncan’s words

caught the team’s attention. “‘Do not be deceived. Fornicators,

idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the

greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers; none of these will inherit

the kingdom of God. And this is what some of you used to be.

But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in

the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.’

Corinthians 6. Told you guys it’d come to me.” He finished with

a huge smile.

“All the victims were law abiding citizens,” said Zane.

“Sodomites, fornicators, and possibly adulterers are the only

applicable terms here.”

“Greedy applies as well,” said Mik, once again not looking at

anyone. “The general idea that men think about sex every seven

seconds could be interpreted as greed.”

“He’s making atonement for himself,” Logan muttered,

staring at the crime scene photos displayed on the board that

covered an entire wall.

His eyes narrowed, going back and forth several times and

finally settling on the picture of victim number one.

“‘Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman’ is the verse

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found on the first three victims. Tokens were found and all the

victims had lacerations in their mouths, but they were not raped.”

He got up from his chair and walked to the snack station,

choosing his usual granola bar. Logan always did his best thinking

when he was munching on something.

“Up to that point it was about disgust towards homosexuals.

Then the next four victims were raped and the killings got more

violent. According to the M.E. reports, the severity of the rectal

injuries has escalated.” He stood in front of the board and

pointed to a picture of the Bible verse found on the next several

victims. “‘If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both

of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death;

their blood will be on their own hands.’” He turned to look at

his teammates. “Now he’s a crusader. This particular verse could

mean he is not to be held accountable for the murders, as the

victims pretty much brought death onto themselves by having

sex with other men.”

“So he’s punishing them for their sins,” Duncan said.

“He’s had emotional cooling off periods between each

incident,” Logan continued. “Basic motivation for crimes is

manipulation, domination, and control, among others, but for

many serial killers the motivation is of a sexual nature. He’s

growing bold, which could mean he is feeling superior, or his

psychosis is getting out of control. Many violent offenders fail to

perceive punishment as a deterrent to their actions, so Lev might

not be concerned at all about the consequences of same. But it

could also mean he’s feeling desperate. Either way, the success of

his killings empowers him, making him feel in control, perhaps

for the first time ever in his life.”

“If he doesn’t think he’s responsible for the murders, why

would you think he’s making atonement for himself?” Mik asked

Logan, finally looking up from her work station.

Logan was their best profiler. He was better than Duncan and

even Sam, notwithstanding his team leader status. If anyone had

a chance of getting inside Lev’s head it would be Logan.

18 Taylor V. Donovan

Sam looked around the room, damn happy his entire team

was present for this particular session. It was normal for his team

to be spread all over the country more often than not. Sometimes

he was even forced to send only one member of his team to far

away locations for preliminary assessment of cases. Sam hated to

do it, but he had to in order to get more work accomplished. He

wished he could keep the entire team on the Leviticus case, but

knew it would be very difficult to do so. Not with a caseload as

big as theirs.

“And what about the rapes?” Sam heard Bobbie ask. “The

cheap number eight in their belly buttons?”

“That’s his signature. It’s what he has to do in order to fulfill

his emotional need. See, he doesn’t need to rape his victims in

order to kill them, but I think Lev’s issues with his own sexuality

are the reason for the sexual assaults, and possibly why he started

killing in the first place. As far as the token goes, the only thing

I can say for sure is that the number means something to Lev.

Most of the victims had pierced navels but the ones who didn’t

had the token sewn onto them.”

“I agree with Duncan’s theory,” said Bobbie. “It’s got to be

punishment for their sins.”

“Hatred,” said Logan “The rapes are about hatred.”

“Not for the victims,” Zane concluded, probably recognizing

the look on Logan’s face. “But for himself.”

“You got that right, Zane.”

“What exactly do you mean by Lev having issues with his own

sexuality?” Mik asked.

“He’s attracted to men”

“No way!” Mik and Bobbie said at the same time.

“Yeah,” that was Duncan, “makes perfect sense. He was

harder on this one. No pun intended. Something’s changing…

setting him off. It’s starting to feel personal.”

“Logan,” Bobbie said. “Do you really think…?”

“He goes to gay clubs. He’s been able to chat up the victims…

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19

I tell you, boys and girls, our self-righteous homophobic killer is

fucking queer himself.”

A moment of dead silence followed Logan’s statement.

Sam wasn’t surprised that his team needed to take a few

seconds to ponder on it. Working Hate Crimes, they dealt with

the consequences of lack of education, narrow-mindedness,

judgment, ridicule, religious fundamentalism, and intolerance on

a daily basis. Self-loathing serial killers, however, did not fit into

too many profiles.

“We need to go over all the evidence again,” said Kostas.

“Analyze things from this new angle.”

“And we need to go over Tangerine’s security tapes one more

time, Zane,” Mik added. “If we can—”

“Agreed.” Sam interrupted and got up from his chair. “But

not tonight. You all go home and get some rest. Clear your

minds. We’ll meet tomorrow morning at the lab, nine o’clock

sharp. Have a good night, kids.”

There was a chorus of good nights, and three minutes later

only Sam and Logan were left in the squad room. Logan threw

his granola bar wrapper into the garbage can across the room

and grabbed his suit jacket from his chair. It went without saying

they’d go grab a bite together. Work aside, Sam and Logan were

also best friends.

They had met as boxing contenders at one of the bureau’s