Gabriel: A thriller (Standalone within the Divinus Pueri series)

by Tracie Podger

  “So she could have any hair color,” I said, slumping in my chair.

  “No, she has brown eyes. Think about it. We can rule out a red head, how many of those have you seen with brown eyes. Black isn’t that common, unless she’s got some Native American, but then would she be a Catholic? So I wonder if she’s actually brown or blonde.”

  I was impressed with his logic. I racked my brain to think of all the brown-eyed women I’d been with over the years. I’d fucked a lot of women in my days doing the fight circuit, but to be honest, I hadn’t taken too much notice of what color hair or eyes they had. I was more interested in getting drunk and getting pussy.

  “If she was on the run, would she be bothered to color her hair just to cover grey? So I’m going for someone who’s trying to disguise herself,” he said.

  “What do we do now?”

  “We have to wait, I’m afraid. I need fingerprint analysis and a trace on that cell. There’s nothing in those documents that identifies where that took place or even if Sierra was involved. There’s some connection with the doll, for sure, but what it is, we need to work out.”

  “She said religion killed Sierra, she knows more, I’m sure. She also said that Sierra asked her to give me that envelope should anything happen to her. So why now? Why not immediately after?”

  I had more questions running through my mind than answers. The envelope contained nothing directly linking Sierra’s murder to whomever the diary entries were about. I scrubbed my hand over my face.

  “It had to be a priest. Think about it, the black pants and shirt, the stab wounds in the form of a cross. It has to be, Tom.” My voice started to rise in agitation.

  All the while I spoke Thomas was making notes. Perhaps he wasn’t as inefficient as I’d believed. Maybe there had been no leads until then. He’d often told me that cases go cold and then a chance meeting or conversation will give them clues they can work with.

  “I’ll send someone round to the church, see if we had any visiting clergymen at that time,” he said as he reached for his cell.

  “Shouldn’t you do that?” I asked.

  “My deputies are well versed in the law, Gabe. They know what to ask and sometimes people speak a little more freely to them, rather than me. I know you thought we didn’t do everything we could back then, but we did. I turned over every fucking stone, Gabe. I just didn’t find any clues. It frustrates me as well.”

  I’d repeatedly checked my phone for a reply from Sister Anna, and as the hours ticked on, the urge to call again got greater.

  “You can’t spook her. She knows you know that number belongs to her; we need to take this slowly and carefully. Like I said, if what we’re reading is true, this is a shitstorm we’re about to hit.”

  I left Thomas and headed over to my parents’. I hadn’t wanted to but I was no help, and my presence was stalling him getting on with investigating the contents of that envelope. At least I’d witnessed the collection of the original documents and knew they were on the way to wherever to be fingerprinted. That gave me some comfort, and the fact that he’d given me a copy.

  “Daddy!” I heard as I stepped down from the truck. “There’s a foal, come and look.”

  Taylor was excited as she pulled on my arm. “Okay, show me where.”

  She led me to the barn and climbed on top of a hay bale that had been placed outside the door so she could look over.

  “Isn’t she pretty? Can I have her, please, Daddy?”

  “She sure is. I don't know about having her, baby girl. Looking after a foal is a lot of hard work.”

  “I can do it, I promise. Grandpa said I could name her. I’m going to call her Lily.”

  “Lily?”

  “Yeah, Mommy had a friend named Lily.”

  I tried not to react immediately. I took a deep breath. “Did she? How do you know that?”

  “She came to the school, loads of times. Mommy always hugged her.”

  “And you know her name was Lily?”

  “I think so. So, can I have her, please, Daddy?”

  “We can call her Lily, for now, and then we need to see how good a girl you are. Naughty girls don’t get horses.”

  She laughed as she jumped off the hay bale and smiled up at me. It was the first time I’d seen her so happy. She could have the damn foal if it kept that sparkle in her eyes.

  “Let’s go find Grandma,” I said as I took her little hand in mine.

  Taylor skipped alongside me as we made our way to the house. Inside my guts were in knots. Sister Anna, Lily—who were these people, and why did I not know them?

  I handed over a grubby Taylor to my mother, who ushered her upstairs for a bath before dinner. I sat on the porch with my dad.

  “I found out some information today, Dad. I’m not sure I want Mom to know just yet, but I have to talk to someone about it,” I said.

  He leaned forward slightly. “About Sierra?”

  “Yes.” I then told him all that I knew from Sister Anna and Taylor mentioning Lily.

  “Shit, Son. What does Thomas make of it all?”

  “He’s keeping an open mind, and I get that, but I can’t help thinking this has something to do with Sierra’s childhood, a childhood I know nothing about.”

  “What about calling Zach?”

  “No, if this has something to do with the church or a convent, I don’t know that I want him involved. It might put him in a compromised position. To be honest, Dad, they’re worse than the fucking Masons. They’d cover it up.”

  “Do you think…?” He didn’t finish his sentence, but I knew what he was implying.

  “I don’t know, Dad. I really don’t know.”

  “Think back, Son. What do you know about Sierra?”

  “Not much, now that I think about it. She was an only child, lost her mother when she was young, never knew her dad, and was brought up in the system. It was one of those things that she didn’t like to talk about, and I respected that.”

  “And this Sister Anna said that envelope belonged to Sierra, do you know that for fact?”

  “No, I took her word for it. I don’t recognize the handwriting, but then it looks to have been written by a child. And I don’t recognize anyone in the photograph.”

  “So what happens now?”

  “We have to wait and see if she replies, which is another thing I wanted to talk about. I think it best for me to stay at home for a while. If she responds, I’ll need to leave there and then, and I can’t do that with Taylor. If this is what I’m suspecting, I want Taylor as far away as possible.”

  “I can understand that. You leave Taylor here with us. I just don’t know what to make of it all. Sheesh, the Church?” Dad rested back on his seat and raised his beer to his lips.

  “I’ve never asked this before, but can we keep this from Mom, for a while? I don’t want her concerned.”

  Mom hadn’t been herself for a while. She was often agitated and refused to talk about it. I’d been concerned about some form of dementia, but I hadn’t voiced that to my dad.

  Dad waved his hand. “Sure, but I do wonder if Zach might be of help.”

  “Not yet, let’s wait until we know a little more.”

  The patter of feet across the hallway halted any further conversation. Taylor climbed onto my lap. Her hair was wet and smelled of strawberries, she had on her nightgown and furry slippers.

  “Hey, you smell nice,” I said as I wrapped my arms around her.

  “It's my own shampoo, Grandma bought it for me,” she said.

  “So, how about you tell me who Lily is?” I gently said.

  “Lily the foal?”

  “No, Lily the person you named the foal after. I thought it would be nice for us to know the real Lily, if Grandpa is going to give you this foal.”

  “You’re gonna give me the foal?” she squealed.

  “Maybe,” Dad said.

  “Lily comes to the school. She’s nice. She looks like Mommy.”

  “Did Mo
mmy introduce you?” I asked.

  “No, I…I snuck round the corner and saw her. Am I in trouble?”

  Her voice trailed off to a whisper. I was always cautious of bringing up Sierra. I didn’t want Taylor to forget her but wondered if it was still too soon for her to talk about her. I hugged her tight to me.

  “No. I bet she’s a pretty lady then, just like your momma,” Dad said.

  Taylor didn’t say anymore but I glanced over her head to my dad.

  “I think, little lady, that it’s dinnertime, then bed,” he said as he rose.

  I carried Taylor into the house and to the kitchen. Mom had laid out a feast, as usual, and we sat and tucked into ham and mashed potatoes. Once we had eaten, I took Taylor up to her bedroom. We sat side by side and she picked up my hand. She twisted my wedding band, counting to three as she did. Her action brought a lump to my throat.

  “Mommy said if we were sad to turn that three times.”

  “When did Mommy say that?”

  “Just before…”

  I cut off her sentence; I didn’t want that on her mind just before bedtime. “I understand, but we’re not sad, are we? You are getting a foal! How cool is that?”

  The mention of the foal perked her up. She chatted about how she was going to care for it, groom it, and learn to ride properly. She’d sat on many horses, I’d sit her on front of the saddle with me on occasion, and it actually pained me to think we hadn’t done that for a while.

  “We’ll go riding on the weekend,” I said. “Now, if you want to be up early to feed Lily, you’d better get some sleep.” I kissed her forehead as she settled down.

  “I love you, Daddy,” she said as I left the room.

  “Love you too, baby girl.”

  I closed her door partway, leaving the landing light on. Although she had never had a nightmare while at the ranch, I wasn’t taking any chances on someone not hearing her. I paused halfway down the stairs to listen before I was satisfied she was okay and continued on. Dad was in his usual seat on the porch, a cigar in one hand and a beer in the other.

  “So, this foal. How much do you want for her?” I said, as I pulled a beer from the cooler beside him.

  “As if I’m going to charge you for her! Although that’s a pretty damn fine mare she’s come from,” he said, adding a chuckle.

  “I’ll buy her. Although I don’t how Taylor will manage.”

  “We’ll sort it. Be good for the girl to have a pony.”

  “She said another interesting thing just now.”

  I told him about twisting my wedding band three times, something Sierra always did. “I’m getting a nasty feeling Sierra knew she was about to die.”

  “Son, we need to get Thomas to bring in the big guns. Or at least we need to do some investigating ourselves.”

  “I know. I have a fucking bad feeling about all this. I’m not even sure I like leaving you guys here on your own.”

  “We’re not. Sam is staying over for a few days and of course I have Bertha.”

  Sam was a ranch hand who came to help out, and Bertha was a shotgun that was originally owned by my grandfather. Bertha sat propped against the wall of the house, just behind Dad.

  “Why do you think she knew she was about to die?” Dad asked.

  “I don’t know, but think about it. She tells Taylor if she’s sad to twist my wedding band, why would she say that? Leaves documents that make no sense to me with a stranger, only to be given to me should something happen to her. Nothing is making sense, but you know what? These past few days have made me realize, I didn’t know my wife.”

  We fell silent for a moment, as I truly digested what I’d just said. I didn’t know Sister Anna, I didn’t know about her visit to my house. I didn’t know about Lily. What secrets had my wife kept from me? I’d known her a little over five years. She got pregnant pretty quickly and we married, not that I wouldn’t have married her regardless.

  “And why now? Why months after she died are we finding out this stuff?” I said.

  “Maybe this sister was waiting for the right time to catch you alone. Perhaps she’s from out of town, and as for Taylor, maybe it’s only now that she can talk about things.”

  It made sense but why wait so long?

  I said goodbye to my parents and headed home. If I heard nothing from Sister Anna by the morning, I’d send another message. As I turned onto my street, I saw a patrol car sitting on my drive. I pulled up alongside.

  “What’s up?” I asked as I climbed from my truck.

  “Looks like you’ve had a break-in,” Thomas replied.

  “Oh, fuck. Who called it in?”

  “No one, I’d just arrived, saw the side window smashed. Was it smashed before you left? I’ve called it in though. Waiting on my guys.”

  “No.”

  I walked back to my truck and took the revolver from the side pocket of the driver’s door.

  “You’re not going in, Gabe. I am.”

  “Like fuck, this is my house.”

  “It’s a potential crime scene and I don't need you traipsing all over it.”

  “I’ll wait here, you go in, and if there’s no one in there, I’m following.”

  It sounded like we were two dumbasses arguing by the front door. I placed the key in the lock and quietly opened the front door. Thomas had his gun raised as he crept in. I didn’t wait for him to give the all clear; I gave him a minute before following him in. He sighed when he saw me.

  We walked from room to room; nothing had been disturbed. We crept upstairs, taking care to avoid the treads that creaked, again, nothing looked to have been disturbed. We lowered our guns as we made our way back down. At that point there were blue flashing lights coming from outside, backup had arrived.

  Thomas went to talk to his deputy while I walked around the house to check the smashed window. I froze at the sound of glass as it crunched under my boot.

  “This has been smashed from inside,” I said as Thomas joined me.

  “I can see that.”

  It was a small window to the pantry, just off the kitchen. We headed in to take a look. It was nothing more than a large cupboard really, and certainly not big enough for the two of us to fit into.

  “Don’t touch the handle with your bare hands,” Thomas said, as he pulled some gloves from his pocket.

  He opened the door, other than a few old cans on a shelf, there was nothing more in there. I couldn’t recall the last time we’d used the pantry and I doubted, after years of not being used and layers of paint, that the window actually opened. The lock had rusted so much I couldn’t open it.

  “Did you set the alarm before you left?” he said, looking at a keypad on the wall as we walked back into the kitchen.

  I raised my eyebrows at him. “Of course not.”

  “Of course not? Why the fuck not?”

  “How many break-ins have we had in the past five years? And don’t say mine because you and I know that was not a burglary.”

  He didn’t answer. “None,” I said.

  I’d gotten the alarm on the insistence of my parents and for the safety of Taylor. She hadn’t been there and I wasn’t in the habit of setting it. It was a basic alarm system, just a high pitched shrill to frighten off any intruders if tripped. I’d scoffed at it, my wife had been murdered in the middle of the day, and not one of the neighbors on the sleepy little street I lived, had noticed. I fucking doubted a wailing alarm would rouse them either.

  “Change the locks, Gabe,” Thomas said as he holstered his gun.

  Within a half hour I had Thomas and his two deputies doing their thing. They took notes, photographs, dusted for prints, and measured the hole in the window. It was a small hole, as if someone had thrown something through it or maybe punched it out. But there was not a shred of clothing caught on the shards of glass still left in the frame and no blood to indicate they might have hurt themselves trying.

  “I don’t know what to make of it,” Thomas said.

  “I
t can’t have been to pass something out, you’d use the fucking door, or open another window at least.”

  “A warning?” he said.

  “About what? And we still come back to that window was blown out from inside. The glass wouldn’t have been in the yard otherwise.”

  “Let’s get it boarded up until tomorrow. Can that door be locked?” He looked toward the pantry door.

  “I can fix something on it.”

  We made our way to the carport to see if I had any wood and found a piece that would be suitable. Once it was nailed into position, I then fixed a couple of bolts to the inside of the door. Not that it would stop anyone opening it from inside the house, of course.

  “I’ll be back in the morning, but I think you should go to the ranch,” Thomas said.

  “No way. Whoever did this can come back anytime they want. I have questions they might be able to answer. Don’t suppose you have news?”

  “Nothing yet, it will take a couple of days.”

  “Shit, I nearly forgot. Taylor mentioned another new name tonight.”

  I told Thomas about Lily.

  “Could just be a teacher’s assistant, but I’ll head on over tomorrow and ask the principal.”

  “I can do that in the morning. I need to speak to her about Taylor out of school anyway.”

  “I’d rather you stayed out of any investigation, Gabe.”

  “You know that won't happen. It was my wife that was killed, Tom. I’m finding out things now that I never knew before. Sierra knew she was in trouble; I’m convinced of it. She told Taylor to twist my wedding band three times if she was sad, that’s something she used to do.”

  Thomas and I sat on the porch once his deputies had left.

  “I don’t know what to do. What the fuck was Sierra up to, and why was I kept in the dark? It’s like I didn't know her and that’s a punch to the gut.”

  “I don’t know, but I think you’re right. I think whatever it was she knew, she also knew was going to land her in some serious shit. Maybe that’s why she didn’t tell you, maybe she was trying to protect you and Taylor.”

  “From what, though?”