Death By Degrees

by Harrison Drake

  “What the fuck does that mean?”

  “I… I don’t know. Is she…” I didn’t want to say it.

  “Does he say anything else?”

  “Yours fraternally, Duncan Crawford. Audacity to call us brothers. Son of a bitch. She’s not dead, Chen. She can’t be.”

  Chen put his hand on my shoulder and led me out of the bedroom. Once we were back in the main part of the apartment he took the letter and photo from my hand and put them back into the envelope.

  “We can’t trust a word of this, Link. You know that.”

  “I know. It’s all a game to him and he enjoys fucking with us. I just don’t know what he means. Is she dead and it’ll take forever to find her? Or is she alive somewhere?”

  “She’s alive, Link. Focus on the good, alright? We’ll find her.”

  I nodded and looked down at my hand to where the Polaroid had been. I didn’t even need to see it to know what it looked like.

  That image had been etched into my mind and could never be erased.

  Chapter Nineteen

  We arrived in Israel the following afternoon and made our way to our hotel in Jerusalem within walking distance of the Christian Quarter and the Old City. The church was one of Jerusalem’s most holy sites and was built on the site of Jesus’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection. It was a little bizarre going to the hotel that Crawford had reserved for us, but it was the best chance we had of catching him.

  Kara, Chen and I didn’t go alone. We had Eddie as well. Then there were the eight additional agents assigned two to each of us as well as assistance from the Mishteret Yisrael. It was the Hebrew name given to the Israeli Police, albeit written using our alphabet. Like in France, Israel had one civilian police force that covered the country and no municipal police forces. The service consisted of thirty-five thousand employees and an additional seventy-thousand volunteer Civil Guard members.

  We were well taken care of and had all the assistance we required, however we also weren’t stupid. The rooms that had been reserved for us were thoroughly searched for any bugs, bombs or other problematic items. Even when the search came up negative, we were provided with different rooms. Crawford had reserved the rooms with a false name, paying ahead of time in cash. He’d also reserved one for himself, but we found it to be empty and it looked as though he had never set foot in it.

  All of our work had yet to reveal the location for Crawford’s finale, but we knew it was somewhere close by. The site would be around this hotel, he had wanted us close. It wasn’t about succeeding for him anymore, it was about succeeding right under our noses. I could only hope that his cockiness would also be his downfall. We had only several hours to go until it was Friday in Israel, and we had no concept of the time that he had made his plans for.

  We left our bags in the hotel rooms and went to the nearby police detachment to meet with the team that had been assembled. It was a mix of regular officers and Yamam officers – members of a world-renowned elite team referred to as the Special Police Unit. We were also assigned our very own Bible scholar. The discussion had been based on where and when we could expect Crawford to make his move. These questions were more readily answerable than the question of what his move was.

  “Everything we have points here. Not only did he choose this hotel, the data Eddie obtained from analyzing the burial directions led us here.” I looked across the large round table to him. “Eddie?” I said, giving him the floor.

  Eddie stood up and walked to the large projection screen where his program was displayed. The map that was onscreen showed the location of each body as well as the line leading from the body to Jerusalem.

  “I’ve been doing everything I can to refine the calculations, but we have to assume some error. Crawford would not have been able to dig the graves and position the bodies exactly. We can minimize the margin for error, but not remove it. Right now, we’re down to about a one kilometre radius centred not far from the hotel. I’ve tried to get more accurate, but I don’t know if it’s possible. I’ve also been trying to get the exact positioning of the body using the timestamps on the photos and the shadows that were being cast when the pictures were taken.”

  “Doesn’t sound easy,” I said.

  “It’s not. And I don’t think it’ll bring us much closer. The error in the burials may still leave us at the same radius even if we do get some more exact numbers. If a large enough number of the bodies were buried at imperfect angles or if the bodies shifted in the dirt after burial, we won’t narrow it down.”

  “Keep at it, it’s the best we have right now.” I looked toward Kara and nodded for her to begin. We had barely spoken about anything other than the case since our last conversation. It was easier for both of us to pretend it hadn’t happened.

  “I feel a little silly going through this with an expert here,” she said as she shuffled papers on the table.

  “Please,” the scholar said. “I need to know what you have learned so far.”

  Kara nodded. “The birthdate of every victim went in order and matched up to verses in the Book of Revelations. Based on Crawford’s own admissions, he’s trying to bring about a new peace on earth, one that he says he won’t be alive for. He believes he received his ‘mission’” she said, making quotes in the air with her fingers, “during a near-death experience as a result of a plane crash. From the date of the crash, tomorrow will be the twelve-hundred-and-sixtieth day, three-and-a-half years by the Hebrew calendar.”

  The scholar nodded and Kara continued, slightly bolstered. “There are a lot of things we aren’t sure of, such as why sixty-six victims? I believe it has something to do with the mark of the beast, but of course, it’s six hundred too low. I believe that his ‘finale’, this final plan of his, involves killing hundreds of people. Not everyone is so sure though.”

  Chen spoke up at this point. “We haven’t seen anything from him that states mass murder. Every killing has been ritualized. He takes his time. He’s careful, cautious; patient even. I see this leaning more toward the targeting of someone high-ranking, possibly a religious official.”

  “I have to agree with Kara,” I said. “The way he spoke of this, I always envisioned something large in scale rather than scope. Targeting an official is too simple, too quiet an attack. He wants to instill fear, he wants to bring the Book of Revelations to life. One death won’t do that, but hundreds? If he succeeds in creating utter chaos, the verse about bodies lying in the streets for three-and-a-half days may come to pass.”

  “I believe you are right,” the scholar said with a thick accent. “I apologize, we skipped formal introductions. My name is Zachariah Aronowitz. I am a Rabbi, but I have spent many years studying all scripture including Revelations. What you have told me and what I have read of this Duncan Crawford, it seems he thinks he can cause the beast to come.”

  “And then what? That forces the second coming?”

  “I believe so. If that is the case, then this finale will be something very large and deadly. He may try to kill as many believers as possible. These will be innocent people.”

  “And this would please the beast.”

  “It would, but we are talking about someone delusional.”

  Everyone nodded. There was no debating that subject. Crawford was insane.

  “Is there anything in Revelations that would tell us when this will happen?”

  Zachariah shook his head. “No. But the Gospel of Mark states, or so we believe, that Christ died at three-o’clock in the afternoon. The burial shrouds and the crosses carved into the skulls, it is ritual. And you believe that the victims were stabbed?”

  “Yes, in the abdomen.”

  “Like Christ. Then, that would make for a fitting time.”

  “The next question is where is this going to happen. Everywhere in this city is a holy site, we can�
��t shut them all down or guard them all. Eddie, what about that radius?”

  “Not sure I’m confident enough in my numbers.”

  “Can we stretch it a little bit, just to be safe?”

  “We could, but we’d be guarding a ton of spots.”

  “Aren’t we already?” I said, looking at the map with the shaded red circle.

  “It’s already too many,” Zachariah said. “Even if we were to shut down every site within that circle, there are so many more outside of it. Close them all down and he might move elsewhere.”

  “So what are you saying then?” All eyes turned to Chen. “Business as usual? And it’s doesn’t change whether it’s one person being targeted or hundreds. We can’t cover every square inch of the Holy Land.”

  The eyes then turned to me for whatever reason. As if I had any better idea of what we ought to be doing.

  “Nothing is going to happen before sunrise tomorrow. He wants to make an impact and he needs people around to do that. Starting at sunrise we put armed plain clothes police, military, civil guards, anything you have in every sacred and/or crowded place within the circle and extending at least another five hundred metres. They should be in teams of two, two teams to a site minimum but probably more depending on the size.” I paused for a moment, let the request sink in. “Can it be done?”

  The Rav Pakad, the highest ranking police officer in the room and equivalent to our Superintendents, looked at me and simply nodded. “We will need time. Try to find where it will be.”

  With that a number of officers stood up and followed him out of the room. It was like a form of unspoken communication; they just knew they were the ones required. Others remained in the room to assist us in attempting to narrow down the location, if we were able to. Eddie was far from convinced and was very worried we’d end up overlooking the actual site.

  “We’re covering a kilometre and a half radius, Eddie. Or that’s the plan, if we get enough people. I don’t think we’re going to pull anyone from anywhere. If we can narrow it down though, we can put some extra people on those areas.”

  “Okay. I just don’t want to be responsible for choosing the wrong location and screwing everything up.”

  “You can’t screw it up, Eddie. You can only get us closer. And that means, I hope, closer to Kat.”

  Eddie nodded and a solemn look crossed his face. He seemed like he had something to say, but then he turned toward the screen once more and went back to work. Kat was the elephant in the room. She was what we were all thinking of, even if we didn’t want to say it. It was obvious for me, but I had to hope this would lead us to her. If not, I had to keep telling myself that I had a job to do, that hundreds of lives could depend on me doing that job.

  I honestly didn’t give a damn if those people lived or died at that point, Kat was number one, but I knew she would care. If I sacrificed everything to find and save her but at the cost of hundreds of innocent lives she would never forgive me or herself. The guilt would destroy her. And so I found myself abiding by her ethics, doing as I knew she would want me to do, even if it was killing me.

  It wasn’t just me though, and when I got the kids on the phone I knew that I had to put an end to this quickly.

  “I wish you never had to go, Daddy,” Kasia said. “I want you to come home.”

  “I will very soon, honey. I’m sorry, but I had to go.”

  They were on speaker phone which made the conversation more confusing as it bounced back and forth without any warning.

  “He has to catch the bad guy, Kasia,” Link said. “Right?”

  “That’s right. And as soon as we do I’ll be home.”

  “With Mommy?”

  “I hope so, sweetheart, I really do.”

  “You’re going to find her, aren’t you?”

  “We’re doing everything we can, Link. We’ll find her,” I said, hoping they couldn’t hear the uncertainty in my voice.

  “We miss you,” Link said.

  “I’m scared. Can you come home now?”

  “I can’t Kasia. I hope that I’ll be on a plane the day after tomorrow though. I’ll be home as soon as I can be.”

  I could hear her start to cry. “It’s not soon enough,” she said before I could hear her footsteps take her away. My daughter was crying somewhere in someone else’s apartment and being comforted by a friend. Her mother was missing, her father was off on some wild goose chase, and she was pretty much alone.

  My anger was building up – anger at myself and at Crawford – and it worried me. Anger was not a good emotion to bring into a situation like this. I needed to stay calm, to not let my thoughts and emotions get the better of me. If I did, Crawford would end up getting the better of me as well.

  “Is she alright, buddy?”

  “I think so, she’s just sad. I am too. We miss mommy and then you had to leave.”

  “I know,” I said, but he didn’t let me finish the rest of my thought.

  “You have to catch him though, okay? You have to get Mommy back.”

  “I know, Link. I’m trying. I’ll be home soon, I promise. Can you get Kasia back? I have to go.”

  “Okay,” he said. I heard him walk away and could hear voices in the background. A minute or so later he came back to the phone. “She said she doesn’t want to talk anymore.”

  I should’ve expected it, but it was a crushing blow. “Oh… okay, Link. I love you and I’ll see you soon. Tell Kasia I love her too, alright?”

  “Okay, bye Daddy.”

  I could hear the sadness in his voice. It tore into me like a thousand knives and gave me no other choice but to shut down. Emotions were a hindrance at this point, and I needed a shield from them. And like it was the easiest thing in the world to do, I cut myself off from the world, from the pain and anguish that life had thrown our way.

  “Bye, Link. I’ll see you soon.”

  Chapter Twenty

  The next morning we rose early and spread out from the police detachment toward every major site within range of Eddie’s calculations – and then some. The list was long and included business centres, hotels, cultural sites, even some of the most sacred sites in the world. Police, military and civilian forces were in position an hour before the sun rose and would remain there until midnight local time. It would be a long day for everyone involved but we didn’t have enough people for shifts.

  We had the Special Police Unit on call and set up in key locations within the target area as well as bomb squads in the event Crawford had something of an explosive nature in mind. We’d already seen that he was capable of crafting an elaborate ambush attack; I didn’t put it past him trying to use explosives to cause massive amounts of death and destruction. In fact, that was the most likely possibility in my mind.

  We had units checking the areas with highly trained dogs capable of sniffing out explosives. There were a dozen dogs brought in from police, military, airport security and anywhere else we could get them from, but it was a long and tedious job to check every location. We started at the hotel and worked outward from there. It seemed most logical to start close to the center of the circle Eddie had identified. Even an ‘all clear’ from the officer wasn’t enough for us to pull our plain-clothes members from each site, we still didn’t know what Crawford had up his sleeve.

  Kara, Chen, Eddie and I stayed within the hotel along with a few others. We had set up a sort of command centre in one of the conference rooms, and the hotel staff had been kind enough to give us access to the projection equipment and anything else we needed. Eddie’s program was on screen while a very large map of Jerusalem was laid out on the massive table that took up the majority of the room.

  The radios were constantly active with new reports, usually in Hebrew, from the dog handlers letting us know which buildings had been cleared for expl
osives. Every ‘X’ along the way was a step in the right direction, it either brought us closer to Crawford or closer to ensuring the safety of a large number of citizens.

  Everyone was told to be on guard but to be casual. We kept just about everyone in plain-clothes so as to not arouse suspicion; only the dog handlers and specialized officers were in uniform. The last thing we wanted was for the public to panic. We needed to move quietly and quickly, make the dogs look almost routine, make ourselves invisible. Not only did we not want the public to know we were there, we didn’t want Crawford knowing until it was too late for him.

  We knew he was an expert at going unnoticed though, and he’d used disguises in the past. If we were to find him, it would be both diligent police work and a little bit of luck. But then again, that’s what police work usually was.

  It was nearing noon with no reports of anything out of the ordinary. The map in front of us was littered with ‘X’s and more were being added every minute. Zachariah, our resident scholar, was sitting at the table looking over the map at the various holy sites.

  “Still thinking three in the afternoon?”

  He nodded. “I believe he will try it then. It happens to be that today is a Friday as well. Most believe Jesus died on Good Friday at three o’clock. Some believe it was nine o’clock though, so it would be best to wait if nothing happens at three.”

  “I want them all on site until midnight, just in case. Any ideas as to where?”

  “There are so many holy places. From what you have said, I think he will want it to happen somewhere sacred. Ritual seems important to him.”

  “It is, for sure.”