Chasing Demons

Chapter Ten

Liam got one of the police officers to drive him back to the station, so he could help the rest of the team. He figured Charlie needed some space. He didn't want to overwhelm him or cause him any more stress. He would go back tomorrow to check up on him and hopefully get him to talk.

"Agent Moreo?" A bald African American man with a goatee wearing all black called his name as he approached Liam when he got out of the car. He was holding a brown sack.

Liam turned around. "That's me."

"I understand you found my son. Charlie?"

Liam nodded. "Yes."

"I went to the hospital. The doctors wouldn't let me see him. They told me where I could find you," he handed Liam the sack, "Could you give this to him?"

Liam opened up the bag and pulled out an old worn baseball.

"This ball was Charlie's first home run. He hit it when he was six. He was so happy, not to mention proud of himself. He would carry it with him everywhere. He would show it to anybody who would listen. I figured maybe this would bring him some comfort?"

Liam nodded as he put the ball back in the sack. "I'll be sure to give it to him in the morning."

"When will I be able to see my son?"

"How about we go in and sit somewhere we can talk privately?" asked Liam.

He led the man into a small room in the police station. "Mr. Bruskin," he said as they sat at a circular table in the middle of the room.

"Please, call me Fred."

"Fred. Your son isn't going to be the same boy you remembered eight years ago. It's all going to take some time."

"Is he going to be okay?"

Liam sighed. "Charlie's a very courageous young man."

"He is going to be okay though right?"

Liam nodded with a blank expression. "Eventually. But it's going to take some time, and he's going to need your support. You'll have to be patient with him."

Fred buried his head in his hands. "This is all my fault."

Liam shook his head as he put his hand on Fred's shoulder. "No, it isn't."

"How is it not?" asked Fred, "If I would have never got into drinking Charlie wouldn't have run off before, and the police would have investigated."

"We don't know that," Liam tried to reassure Fred.

"Well I do," Fred cried.

"You ought to go home. Get some rest," said Liam as they both stood up. "I might have to ask you more questions later," he added as he walked Fred out the door. "I'll call and update you as soon as we know something. Your son is in good hands."

Fred nodded. "Thank you."

Liam went into the conference room where his team was working.

"How's the boy?" asked Leroy.

Liam murmured. "Not good."

Tommy walked into the room with his phone in his hands. "Go ahead, Audrey. You're on speaker."

"Okay, so I did what you asked and looked in the database in Abingdon for missing boys in the past 24 years."

"And?" Leroy interrupted impatiently.

"I came up empty. So I did a statewide search and holy moly we hit the jackpot."

Tommy put the phone on the table and went to a map of Virginia that was on the wall.

"I did a search for murder cases as well because with 24 years worth of missing boys there's bound to be bodies. This is what I came up with. The first victim is Johnny Bello. He went missing back in 1996 in Ashburn. His body was later discovered in 2004."

Tommy put a tack on Ashburn.

"The second victim is Drake Munroe. He went missing in 2004 in Yorktown. His body was found in 2012."

Tommy put a tack on Yorktown.

"The final victim before Charlie is Eddie Fallon. He went missing in 2012 in Petersburg. His body was found back in February," said Audrey, "And then there's Charlie Bruskin. Went missing in Abingdon in 2012, and he was found alive on Friday. 2020."

Tommy put a tack on Petersburg and Abingdon before stepping back to examine the map.

"How do we know if all these cases are connected?" inquired Liam.

"All the vics died of smoke inhalation. They had cuts and burns throughout their bodies. They were all taken at age eight and held for eight years, and there's something else....."

The fax machine started up.

Tammy went and grabbed photos of all three victims. "Oh my god," she said covering her mouth.

"What?" asked Tommy.

Tammy handed the photos to Tommy, who was standing next to him and pointed to a marking on the boy's backs. "The boys are branded," she said, disturbed by the images.

"Human societies utilize symbols to express specific belief systems and to represent aspects of their particular culture," said Tommy as he observed the photographs.

"So what does that mean?" asked Liam.

Tommy frequently forgets that they aren't as smart as he is.

"This symbol is the Hexagram; it is one of the foremost potent symbols utilized within the working of the powers of darkness. Primarily used to work dark enchantment. It is thought to be the evilest and most powerful of all symbols in witchcraft and the occult," Tommy paused, the whole team gazed at him bewildered. "In witchcraft, it is used to conjure demons to the world making them appear in this dimension to do 'the bidding of the witch.'"

"Which means....?" inquired Julian, slightly annoyed. He wished Tommy would just speak in English for once.

"Well according to former Satanist Bill Schnoebelen, 'A hexagram must be present to call forth a demon' and 'it is an exceptionally powerful tool to conjure Satan.'"

"So this man thinks he's Satan and wants to summon demons?" asked Tammy, still confused.

"Yeah something like that," answered Tommy with a nod.

"Okay, so why torment, sexually abuse, and murder young boys?" asked Liam.

Tommy shrugged and gave a slight sigh. "He's a pedophile and a sadist. He gets off on inflicting maximum pain and loves to watch the boys suffer. But once the boys reach the age of 16, they are too old for him. He kills them so that they can't tell anyone what he did to them."

"He's smart. He moved to a different city with every boy, so we wouldn't be able to connect all three cases. Which is why he got away with it for 24 years," said Leroy.

"Are we sure the one in Ashburn is his first victim?" inquired Julian.

"Well, it looks like the first boy got it easy. He was dead before he was lit on fire. And since he was burned, it's kind of hard to see his torture wounds, but it looks like they aren't as bad as Charlie's. There's also not any cases with the same M. O before 1996 Nationwide," answered Audrey.

Leroy glanced at the clock on the wall, 8 pm. "All right, Levins I want you to search for all the men who were in those cities during those times. Then look at men who were charged with peeping, stalking, and sexual abuse of a young boy. We need to develop a suspect pool, but I'm guessing this man hasn't been convicted for any of those crimes since his timeline is consistent, but he's unquestionably done one of those things before. Also, search for juvenile records as well. He might have gotten busted for something when he was a teenager."

"On it," said Audrey as she hung up.

"Hatano and Walters I want you to stay here and go through all of these files and the rest of us are gonna join the search team."

Tommy looked at Tammy and grinned. Tammy disregarded him.