Sonatorrek: Lokasenna - 4

[x-dominion.livejournal.com]

WARNING: MATURE SUBJECT MATTER - RAPE, HOMOPHOBIA, DEATH

Kane comes in to consult on a new murder in town, and following, has an exceptionally out of character encounter with Jubilee.



“Kane. Jesus, thanks for coming out.” Arnie passed him a paper cup of coffee. The chief had called him, asking for assistance on a murder. Small towns didn’t possess the same capabilities to deal with murders, and it was a situation that any extra hands were valuable. Kane had pulled the rental car in next to the cruisers and was greeted with the coffee.

“Hey, while I’m here, you know.”

“Yeah. What happened to Brand?”

“She got recalled.” He covered the desire to add to that with a sip of the coffee. He was mad at Brand and himself. What had he been thinking? The fact that the motel roof hadn’t fallen in on them was enough for him to just toss all of his reservations aside and fuck her multiple times. Obviously, he wasn’t the guy he thought he was after all.

“Shit. Could have used her.” Snorinsen shrugged, and waved him back. “Poor Janet Altsen found him out walking those fucking Jack Russell terriers of hers. I’m amazed they didn’t try and take a bite out of the body.”

“You identified him yet?”

“Alex Knorr. Nineteen years old.” Arnie spat off to the side of the path. “He was supposed to be on his way back to college today.”

“Fuck. That young?” Kane took a deep breath. It never was easy, but when the victim was young, it made it that much harder. “Cause of death.”

“You’ll need to see it for yourself.” Arnie said sourly, and Kane took the hint; it was going to be bad.

The came into the clearing, where the county coroner was arguing with one of the other officers. “What else do you think you need, Danny?”

“Doc, there’s the whole forensic-“

“Don’t give me that bullshit. You’re just-“

“Guys! Enough.” Arnie stepped in, indicating Kane. “This is Agent Garrison Kane. Kane, this is Officer Daniel Jensen and Doc Blake.”

“Hey.” Kane shook both their hands. “Any relation to Deke, Doc?”

“Cousins. You need to go back about four generations though. Blakes have been here a long time, Agent Kane. You can call me Drew.”
“Alright, let’s get this shit-show sewn up. Danny, help the Doc prep things to get Alex out of here.” Arnie waved them away and beckoned Kane forward.

The body was tied to the bole of the tree, held up by what looked like normal yellow utility rope. He was naked, and his lower body was covered in black blood. Dark bruising stood out on his torso and face, and Kane used his gloves to carefully tilt back the head. Someone had used what looked like a heated knife blade to carve ‘FAG’ into his forehead.

“Shit.” Kane stepped back from the body. “Hate crime?”

“Looks like it. I just-“ Arnie lit a cigarette. “No one was surprised when Alex came out during his first year in college. He’d been putting up with the odd bit of bullshit since high school. But the worst I can remember is one of the temp guys who were topping trees shove him around a bit a couple of years ago. Knorr isn’t the only out gay person in town either. We’re not going to have a Pride Parade anytime soon, but someone being capable of pulling this off is just... I don’t know.”
“Anyone see him come out to the site?”

“Last anyone had seen him, he had gone down to the high school to see his old art teacher. Geez, Dotty is going to be a wreck.”

“The teacher?”

“Yeah. Said they shared a cup of a tea, talked for an hour and then he left.”

“The tag might be an attempt to frame it as a hate crime to throw us off the track. Small town, openly gay target; it’s the first thing anyone would jump to.” Kane said. “Look, I think there’s more going on.”

“Don’t bring up the serial killer thing again, Gar. Shit, I don’t even want to think what could be involved in that.”

“Most likely this is what it looks like. Someone here had a real problem with Knorr and his sexuality. But if it doesn’t feel right, let’s not assume that it’s outside of the realm of possibility. I can think of worse ways to try and throw off the scent by setting him up like this.”

“We’ll get the uniforms out there, see if we can get any more information. Why don’t you follow the Doc in, see what he finds.” Kane nodded, stepping back so the others could remove the body.

***

The morgue was in the town’s hospital, down in the basement, and Kane’s nose wrinkled from the dank odor. Drew Blake caught his look and passed over the small jar of Vick’s Vapor Rub. Old hospital, he explained, and the smell never really went away. Kane dabbed the medicinal smelling compound under his nostrils and blinked as the smell hit him. He followed him over to the table, where the body had been washed and covered under a sheet.

“You know the worst thing about living in a small town? I remember Knorr as a little kid. Coached him in soccer for three years. He was a pretty good goalie.” Blake shook his head sadly and picked up his clipboard. “Knorr died from blood loss. He had been beaten and repeatedly raped prior to death.”

“He’s just a kid.” Kane said reflexively. Knorr looked like half the kids in the mansion, and his stomach turned over momentarily. It hardened his resolve. He was going to get whoever was behind this.

“No semen, just traces of lubricant. I assume it would be from standard condoms, but I’ve prepped a sample for testing. There’s surprisingly little tearing, especially considering the bruising. It’s possible that what happened to him started consensually and then went bad.” Drew looked at his chart. “Part of the problem is that without samples, it could have been a single person or a group.”

“That makes things difficult. Any way to figure it out from the bruising?”

“I’ve got photos off to a friend of mine in Chicago who’s got some experience with that. It’s not one of my specialties.”

“Sorry. Something like this should be at a Bureau lab.” Kane held up a hand. “Not a criticism. It’s my fault. If I was more convincing, you’ve have some of the best forensic people in the country to consult with.”

“Well, we’ll make due. Based on the body, he was alive when he was tied to the tree, and then his genitals were removed with a sharp blade. I’m guessing a standard livestock gelding tool.”

“Fuck...”

“Yeah. Testicles and penis. That’s how he bled out. The word was carved on his face following death.”

“With that injury, how long would he-“

“Hours, Agent Kane.” Blake met Kane’s eyes for the first time, and he could see the anger there. “The person or people who killed Alex cut off his genitals, and then sat and waited to make sure that he’d die from the loss off blood. This was a deliberate act.”

Garrison rubbed his eyes, unable to keep the revulsion from his face. The sadism was unmistakable. Dr. Drew Blake put down the clipboard and uncovered Knorr’s left arm and shoulder. He pulled the arm away from the body a ways and then pointed.

“I found this cut into him as well.”

“What is it?”

“I’m not sure. It’s a symbol of some type. The cuts are small and deliberate. It was likely done around the same time as the marks on his face.” Kane peered closer, but it didn’t mean anything. “I have a photo of it in the file.”

“Thanks. Sorry Doc. I’m going to go back and look this over. Maybe I can shake loose some help from the local Field Office.”

“Do what you can, Agent Kane. I would prefer if this is the last murder like this I see for a good long time.”

***
Kane let out a shaky breath as he pulled his car into the covered lot. He wasn’t used to that level of brutality. Kane’s specialty was mutant crimes, and not serial killer investigations. The savage attack that murdered the young man seemed simply inhuman in nature. It was almost more comfortable to think of it as an unnatural predator. He flicked on the radio, his paranoid sense taking over, and shook his head as a David Bowie song started.

He found a space on the empty third level, where the small Asian woman waited. He opened the front door and motioned her to get in.

“So, how’s the food at Harga’s Titty City? Arnie actually invited me to join him for the lunch special there.”

"They do a pretty good set of hot wings, not as good as Finnigans but we're like, in Deliverance territory here," Jubilee replied as she got in, closing the door after her. Her nose immediately scrunched at the choice of music. "Bowie, Gar? Just how much you been hanging with Clarice lately?"

"It's local FM, Jubes. You're lucky it's not 'Free Bird' or something." Kane answered, ignoring Bowie's crooning about his China doll. "So, you guys settled into the club? What are the rumours about Don?"

"We're settled, time'll tell if anyone gets suspicious about our origins or not," Jubilee replied with a shrug. Operational paranoia, never assume your back story was so water tight that some idiot couldn't stumble over something at the least opportune time. Still, it was good enough for now, and they'd managed to insinuate themselves into the club without too much difficulty. She wondered briefly if Kitty would've been horrified that Jubilee was using dance class training in a titty club now.

"Hopefully not. The last thing we need are the locals any more hostile about us." Kane said sourly.

"Plan for the worst, and hope for the best," Jubilee replied, a slightly bitter smile edging the corners of her mouth as she repeated the cliche. "Or something like that, we're doing okay so far. As for this Don guy, he's either fucking nuts, a mutant, or he's actually Thor. There's a bunch of people that believe he's actually what he says he is, and Sylvia's so obsessed with the guy that I've heard her actually calling him by it. Not like I haven't actually met gods, so it's not completely out of left field but I don't know, dude."

"If only I could just claim he was crazy. Now, I get to consider whether I'm dealing with a deity. I don't know if we have a God-proof cell." Kane sighed, leaning on the door with his arm. "What about the Sons? It seems pretty odd that everything is peaceful right up to the point that Don starts his Thor act, and then they decide they want the town for themselves."

"Depends on what your definition of peaceful is," Jubilee noted, leaning her head back against the seat as she adjusted herself for good range of vision as well as comfort. "Their leader's challenged the Valhalla's directly from what I'm hearing, and they had to break up a potential brawl outside the club just last week. I'm telling you, Gar. Something seriously weird is going on in this town. Some of the previous dancers at the club? They totally took an offer from a club in SoH territory awhile ago, and there's been nothing from them since, not even a 'sucks to be you, we're earning more money here, yo' type phone call. Far as I know, these girls didn't have anything to do with the Valhalla's, so it's just creepy that they've gone that silent without any explanation at all."

"Fuck." Kane rubbed his eyes. There was a pattern here, just out of his reach. He could sense the connection, but not the shape of it yet. "I wonder if any of the talent in the studio has had the same issue. Lured away by money offers and then not heard from? You want to talk to the girls on the casting couch and see if that's the case?"

"Of course, I'll let you know if they have," Jubilee answered, giving him a concerned look as she noticed the eye rubbing. "How much sleep you getting, dude?"

"Not a lot. Normally we'd have a whole team supporting an investigation. I'm starting to forget what a bed is for."

"So like, I am totally the last person to talk when it's all about 'you must get sleep' but Gar, you gotta get some sleep, that shit'll make you crazy after too long," Jubilee replied, giving him a worried look. "And not the fun crazy with like painting on walls or like, eating chocolate cake and going into a precognitive bender."

"Relax Jubilee. I have some experience in this."

"Don't know, dude. Maybe you just need some extracurricular activities to knock you out, yeah?" Jubilee noted, turning slightly toward him as she spoke. "Get you remembering what a bed is for and all."

"Yeah, right. That's going to happen." Kane said sourly. His curse was common knowledge, and he'd been alone since November. Besides, with what he’d just seen, he wasn’t sure he thought it was a bad thing.

Jubilee rolled her eyes and moved, one hand gripping his shoulder as she got well into his space, "Gar, if I've got to make some sort of crack about coming to clean your pool, I'm going to be totally disappointed in you."

"I-" The radio was still playing 'China Girl'.

She blessed her constant training for making her flexible enough that getting onto his lap in a smallish car was not a problem, and took her pretty much no time at all beyond a bit of twisting. After that, it was just a case of cutting off whatever it was he was trying to say with a kiss, her free hand sliding against the back of his head to pull him closer.

Kane was ready to push her back. Wasn’t she dating Kurt? Especially after his dalliance with Brand, the thick, sour feeling was still there. But her touch suddenly pushed aside the images of the young man, and he almost gasped with the suddenness of it. It was like a wall had dropped between what he’d just seen and his emotions and he groped for that distance greedily, and with it, her.