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

by Tracie Podger

“That’s what we have to find out.”

  I didn’t sleep easy that night. I’d kept my gun lodged under the pillow, and every creak and rattle had me jumping from the bed. I lay awake thinking. I had a fair bit of information rattling around my brain but none of it made sense. Nothing tied together. In the early hours of the morning, I decided that I had to start right back at the beginning, Sierra’s beginning.

  With a large mug of black coffee in hand, I sat at the kitchen table and stared at a blank pad. I twiddled the pen between my fingers. I knew her maiden name, so that’s where I’d have to start. But how? She had to have had a birth certificate somewhere, I was sure we would have needed that when we got married. Although it was a civil ceremony with just my family, there must have been some documentation. Trouble was, Sierra and my mom organized it all. I didn’t even know where our marriage license was.

  I started to make a list.

  Marriage License

  Birth Certificate

  Mother’s name – details of death?

  Mother – where buried?

  Sister Anna – who is she?

  Lily – who is she?

  Then I drew a blank again. Maybe I should take up my dad’s offer of a private investigator. I had a laptop but I wasn’t particularly computer literate. Still, I rose from the chair and retrieved it. I made a list of the convents. I had no idea how the foster care system worked, I doubted I could just call and ask if they knew my wife.

  When the sun started to rise, I stood and stretched out my back. I was no closer to having answers than I was months ago. I picked up my phone and sent another message to Sister Anna.

  I need to see you. Please, message me or call. Gabriel

  I took my phone with me to the bathroom. I needed to shower, and then as soon as I could, I would be heading to the school. I wanted to find out who Lily was, if only to rule her out. Something niggled me; something Taylor had said and I wracked my brain to remember. I should have added, speak to therapist, to my list.

  “Mrs. Thompson, can I have a word?” I said as I crossed the schoolyard.

  Mrs. Thompson was the principal at Taylor’s school and a formidable character. Fuck knows what the kids thought of her; she scared the shit out of me.

  “Mr. Malone, it’s good to see you. Come on in,” she said.

  I let out a sigh of relief that she was in a good mood.

  “Taylor is at my parents’. She’s not sleeping and I understand she fell asleep in class. I thought it a good idea to get her out of the house for a while. She’ll spend some of the summer break there. But I have a question to ask. Taylor mentioned someone called Lily. This Lily came to the school, I don’t know when, but I think on more than one occasion. Can you shed some light on who she is?”

  We walked into Mrs. Thompson’s office, and I was yet to be offered a seat. I watched her walk to her side of the desk and sit, eventually she gestured toward a seat. The chair I sat in was very possibly made for a child; Mrs. Thompson towered over me.

  “Lily?”

  “Yes, she said she met with my wife a couple of times. I need to know who this Lily is.”

  “Are our wonderfully efficient police force any further on with their investigation?” she asked.

  “We have some new leads, Lily may be one of them.”

  “So why is Thomas not sitting in my office?”

  “Because I need to do something, Mrs. Thompson. I can’t sit around any more, waiting.”

  She sighed. “A tragedy, a real damn tragedy.”

  “So?”

  “We don’t have a Lily working here, that’s for sure. I know some of the teachers have visitors. I’ll check the log, Mr. Malone. If this Lily did visit, and it was an official visit, she would have had to sign in.”

  “I’d appreciate that.”

  “Now, as for taking Taylor out of school without notifying us, that’s a big black mark against you. However, I understand and will waive any penalty.”

  Her generosity knew no bounds. I stood and thanked her, inwardly calling out the bitch. She was a good principal, the school children feared her, heck, most of the staff and parents feared her. All the kids that went through her classrooms came out with good grades, and more importantly, good manners.

  “Gabe, I told you I’d deal with this,” I heard as I crossed the yard.

  Thomas exited his car and was surrounded by excited children wanting to know why he was at their school.

  “Coffee?”

  He nodded, unhooked a couple of boys from his waist and followed me across the street to the diner.

  “So?”

  “Nothing. No Lily working at the school, so that’s a good thing. And she’ll check the log to see if there was an official visit.”

  “When will she get back to you?”

  “She didn’t say and since I was sitting in a chair big enough for a fucking ten-year-old and staring up at the bitch, I didn’t question her on that either.”

  He chuckled as Mary poured us two coffees. “I have news on the cell that you’re not going to like. It’s a prepaid but we can trace it. However, before you get all excited, she’s not a suspect, so I don’t think I’m going to get the go ahead.”

  “Shit…”

  “But I have a friend who might be able to help. Strictly off the record of course,” he said, interrupting me.

  “You have a strictly off the record friend?” I resisted the urge to use air quotes.

  “Sometimes we have to bend the rules a little, Gabe.”

  Thomas surprised me. Even in school, everything was by the book with him. Whereas, I’d quite happily copy my neighbor’s exam paper, he would sit with his arm protecting his answers.

  “So, when do we speak to your friend?”

  “We don’t, I do. And I already have. Even with a prepaid, she would have had to give ID when she bought the phone. Whether that ID is real or not is another matter. We know her as Sister Anna; on paper she could be anyone. If she has the phone on, I’ll be able to get a location.”

  “She hasn’t answered my text messages. I’ll try calling her.”

  “Okay.” He drained his coffee and stood. “I’ll be in touch, Gabe.”

  He collected his hat from the counter, left a few dollars and headed for the door.

  “Refill?” Mary said as she scooped up his money.

  “Sure, why not.”

  “How are you doing, Gabe?” she asked as she poured me a fresh mug.

  “Struggling, Mary, to be honest. Taylor has nightmares, I’m not sleeping, and we may have some new information on Sierra.”

  “That girl will be fine, she’s a great kid. You leave her with your momma for a few days and get some rest. I can see the dark circles under your eyes. You’ll be no good to her if you’re burnt out.”

  Whether it was because she’d suggested I get some rest or not, but a wave of exhaustion flowed over me. I was lonely, I was worried about my daughter, and I was missing my wife. Emotion welled up inside me. I placed my half-drunk mug on the counter and left.

  The cemetery was empty when I arrived. I parked the truck and climbed out. I took a deep breath before making my way over to where my wife lay. I crouched down at her headstone and ran my fingers over her name.

  “What happened, baby? I so fucking wish I could work it out for you.”

  Tears formed in my eyes as I sat on the grass beside her grave. I missed her, I missed hearing her voice and feeling her arms wrap around me. I missed her smile, the smile that lit up a room and made her eyes sparkle. I missed the look on her face every night when she stared down at our daughter sleeping. That was the look of pure love.

  Not a day went past that I didn’t feel the physical pain at her absence.

  “I’m going to find out who did this, you believe me, right? I won’t rest until I know what happened to you.”

  Sitting by her grave gave me some comfort. Taylor and I visited often and laid fresh flowers. We talked to, and about, her. I only wished she coul
d hear us.

  I pulled out the list I had stuffed in my jean pocket and stared at it. The more I ran through that list in my mind, the more I knew I’d need Zachary’s help. If those diary entries had anything to do with abuse by a priest, he’d need to know. What he could do with the information, I was unsure about, but I hoped he’d also be able to help me locate where that had happened.

  “You’ve been looking for me?” I heard. The female voice startled me.

  I looked over my shoulder and my breath caught in my throat. My heart missed several beats, and for a moment, I thought I had died. I gasped in a lungful of air as I stared at the owner of the voice, as I stared at my dead wife.

  “What the fuck?” I said.

  “I’m sorry to scare you, Gabriel.”

  “Who the fuck are you?”

  She stood in the shadow of the trees, but I could clearly see her long blonde hair, her blue eyes.

  “My name is Lily. Lily Preston.”

  “Pres…”

  “Sierra was my sister.”

  “No way. No, no. Is this some fucking sick joke?”

  I stood, but as I took a step toward her, she shrank back into the shadows of the trees.

  “Wait, don’t run, please. You need to talk to me,” I said.

  “I can’t stay for long. She should never have given you that diary. She put us all in danger.”

  “Who shouldn’t have given me the diary? In danger from who? Talk to me, please. I can help.”

  “You couldn’t help your wife.”

  “I didn’t fucking know she needed me to help her with anything.” I struggled to keep the anger from my voice.

  I watched as she looked around, like Sister Anna, she was skittish, scared.

  “Let’s take a drive, you have to help me, Lily.”

  “No police, okay? I will not go to the police,” she said.

  I nodded. “No police, just you and me. Please help me, help my daughter.”

  At the mention of my daughter, her face softened a little, and I saw the tear that ran down her cheek. I was in turmoil, my stomach knotted at the sight of her. Maybe she was a little younger than Sierra, but they shared so many similar features it was starting to freak me out.

  She took a step toward me and I motioned with my head to my truck. While I walked across the grass, she kept to the tree line. I had the passenger door open before she got there. She threw in a large backpack and then scuttled in, keeping low in the seat.

  I rushed to the driver’s side and climbed in. I started up the truck and we drove. For a while we didn’t speak.

  “How do I know you are her sister?” I asked. It was a dumb question bearing in mind looking at her was like looking at a slightly younger version of my wife.

  “You don’t, you only have my word for it, I guess.”

  “Give me something here, Lily. Have you any idea what my family has been going through these past few months?”

  “Have you, Gabriel, any idea what my sister had been going through for the past twenty-five years?”

  “No, I didn’t, and that’s the fucking point. I don’t know anything. Just a few days ago, I found out about Sister Anna and was given an envelope. I don’t know what it means, who wrote the diary, who the kids in the picture are, nothing. I know fuck all and it’s driving me mad. Someone broke into, or out of, my house last night, know anything about that?”

  “You can get as pissed as you like, but it won’t help. I can get out of this truck and you’ll never see me again.”

  I pulled over. “You can get out, you’ll be exposed on this highway with a fucking long walk to either end.”

  We fell silent. I watched as she turned her head to look out the window. Her side profile was as I remembered my wife’s to be. I wanted to reach out and run my fingers down her cheek, I wanted to feel if her skin was as soft as Sierra’s had been. I wanted to pull her into my arms and see if she smelled the same.

  “I’m sorry. Seeing you, it…It’s hard,” I said.

  “I can imagine. We've always looked alike. We’re not twins, I’m two years younger. I don't remember a lot, Gabriel. I only have snippets, or flashbacks, I guess. For years I’d even forgotten I had a sister. She got in contact with me just before...Those kids in the photograph? Most are dead. All murdered to ensure their silence, so Sierra told me. It’s why she got in contact, to warn me, and I’ve been running ever since.”

  “Start at the beginning, please, Lily. Tell me something.”

  She took a deep breath. “I don’t remember a lot, maybe I’ve blocked it out. Our mother died, Sierra was five and I was three. Sierra and I were taken into a convent that cared for kids. I remember being forced to pray constantly. And I remember watching girls, and boys, being taken from their beds. Some returned, bleeding and weeping, some never returned.”

  “Where was this?”

  “You know, I’m not sure. Sierra told me New York, but I think she meant state, not city.”

  “Who are the surviving kids?” I knew the answer before she even told me. She had to be one of them.

  “One of them is me, of course. Sierra never disclosed the identity of the other ones.”

  She finally turned to look at me and the fear on her face was evident. I wanted to reach out to her, I wanted to hold her hand and tell her everything would be okay, but I was troubled. My brain was scrambled, my stomach churning with want, I felt like I was sitting with my wife. I wanted to drag her from the seat and hold her, kiss her. Not her, not Lily, but Sierra. I shook my head, hoping the confusion would give way to some form of clarity.

  “I’m tired of running, and I don’t know how to hide from these people,” she whispered.

  “Who, Lily? Who is chasing you?”

  “The Catholic Church, Gabriel. The whole fucking organization wants to make sure we don’t speak out. Sierra set the wheels in motion a year or so ago. She decided to talk. She got in contact with as many people as she could, got statements. And one by one, those people have died.”

  “How can the whole Catholic Church be involved in this? I don’t understand. So, the priest in the picture, he abused the children?”

  “Not just him, there was a group of them. From what Sierra said, they shared the children around. They took them from drugged up mothers and drunken fathers, promising care and education. Instead those children got passed around like fucking playthings. I don’t suppose all the men were of the church, I just don’t remember. I wish I did, but I’m glad I don’t.”

  “Where are all these statements?”

  “Now that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? Those diary entries, they are Sierra’s, she wrote those. After I had left I think.”

  “Left, where?”

  “I was fostered, I think I was four at the time, Sierra said that Sister Anna was instrumental in that. I didn’t see Sierra again, I forgot about her, Gabriel. It was only when she made contact that memories of her came flooding back. Why didn’t she make contact before? Why did she wait so long?”

  “I don’t know, Lily. I don’t know anything about her anymore. I’m as confused as you are.”

  In the distance I could see a car approaching. I watched her tense and sink down into her seat. I started the truck and made a U-turn before the approaching vehicle got close.

  “My house was ransacked when they killed Sierra. Maybe whatever documents she had were taken. Was Sierra the last one killed?”

  We were getting closer to town and with it, Lily became more anxious.

  “I doubt it. I wish I could help more, I really do. I was too young, Gabriel. I wish whoever it was that killed her, knew that I don’t know anything.”

  Lily started to cry, her shoulders slumped and she looked beaten and tired.

  “Where have you been these past few months?” I asked gently.

  “Here, there. I just keep on traveling.”

  “What about your foster parents? Do they know where you are?”

  “I left their care w
hen I was sixteen. I’ve been alone ever since. I don’t have anyone.”

  “Let me take you somewhere safe, for now. There’s so much we need to work out.”

  She didn’t reply and I picked up my phone to call my parents.

  “Hey, Dad. I need a favor. I need you to keep Taylor out of the way for a couple of hours. I’ll explain more when I get there.”

  “I’m sure your mom can take her into town, buy her a pretty dress or something.”

  “I’m bringing someone over with me. I just don’t want Taylor to see her yet.”

  “Are you okay, Son?”

  “I don’t know to be honest. I’m a little blown away right now. I have Sierra’s sister, Lily, with me.”

  “Fuck, really?”

  “Yeah, really. Be there in half an hour.”

  We said our goodbyes and I shut off the phone. “You need to be careful using that,” she said.

  “Why?”

  “It’s easily tracked, someone could be listening in to your conversations.”

  “You watch too much TV,” I said.

  “I’m serious. You think the church is good and holy, don’t you?”

  “I’m not religious, I don’t care for the church.”

  “They are about as evil as the devil himself.”

  She fell quiet and continued to look out the window as if the barren countryside held her attention.

  Dad was in his usual spot on the porch when we arrived. Mom and Taylor were nowhere to be seen. Dad stood from his chair holding ‘Bertha’ across his chest. I jumped down from the truck and walked around to meet him halfway across the drive.

  “So, is she Sierra’s sister?” Was his first question.

  “I’ll let you decide, she sure looks like her. I believe she is. She doesn’t know much though. She’s scared and on the run. I need somewhere safe for her.”

  Lily opened the passenger door and cut our conversation short. She gently slid from the passenger seat and stood by the open door. It was clear she felt very uncomfortable.

  “Lily, come here, girl,” Dad said.

  She took a couple of steps forward, not making eye contact. Dad placed his gun on the ground and met her midway. He did what I wanted to do but couldn’t, he wrapped his arms around her. She collapsed into his chest and sobbed.