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

by Tracie Podger

  “I’m sorry,” she said as she broke away, obviously embarrassed by her outburst.

  “You cry as much as you want, Lily. You’ve had a traumatic time. Now, come on in, let’s get you sorted.”

  We walked into the house and straight to the hub, the kitchen. Dad placed his hand on her back and guided her to a chair. He placed three mugs in the center of the table and poured coffee. She wrapped her hands around her mug as if to use it to ward off a chill.

  “So,” Dad said when he sat.

  “Lily doesn’t know too much, no more than we already know, other than most of the children in the photograph are dead. Sierra told her that. Oh, and there is a bunch of statements that Sierra had been collecting for some time from the abused kids somewhere.”

  “Want to tell me what you know?” Dad asked her.

  Lily told him what she’d told me in the car. She added that since Sierra had made contact, she had, indeed, visited her at the school a few times. I tried my hardest to keep any emotion from showing on my face. Dad wasn’t so subtle.

  “Sierra wanted us to meet, Gabriel. She told me all about you, how you saved her. She told me how much she loved you.”

  “Then why are we only meeting now?” I said.

  “I don’t know. Maybe she thought by not introducing us immediately, she was protecting you. But if that were the case, I wouldn’t have met her at the school, somewhere so public, I guess. I hope it was so we could get to know each other again, on our own.”

  “So where do we go from here?” Dad asked.

  “It would be great if we could find those statements. Thomas has the diary pages and the photograph, although I have a copy in the truck.” I turned to Lily. “Thomas is our local sheriff and also an old friend of mine.”

  “I won’t speak to the police, I told you that.”

  “I’m not going to ask you to. I just want to keep you safe. Is there anything you can tell me about your mother?”

  She sighed and shook her head gently. “I know her name was Lily, I was named after her, but I don’t remember her. I couldn’t tell you what she looked like even. Sierra said she was brought up in the convent herself. She was very religious.”

  “Do you know where she lived? Maybe we could find records for her?” Dad asked.

  “As I said to Gabriel, New York, somewhere.”

  “When you spoke to Sierra, how did she seem? Was she scared?”

  “No, which surprised me. She wanted to go public about what had happened, she wanted them to pay for their sins, she said. I don’t know but, and this is going to sound totally weird, it was as if it was her duty and anything that happened in the process was just fate.”

  That made no sense to me at all. Dad’s phone beeped to indicate he had received a text. He fumbled around with it, huffing as he tried to open the message.

  “You’re mom is on her way back. Lily, we have a little loft over the barn. You’ll be safe there. Gabe can show you on up, and as soon as mom returns, I’ll send her over with food and bedding.”

  I stood and waited for Lily, she seemed a little unsure. “Do you have any clothes or toiletries?” I said.

  “I have what I need for a few days in my backpack. I won’t stay long, but thank you. A decent bed would be welcomed right now.”

  “You’ll stay as long as you want, young lady,” Dad said.

  Lily followed me to the truck, where she collected the backpack that had been sitting on the floor, before we made our way over to the barn. We then headed up the wooden staircase to the small loft above the stalls.

  “Mom would have kept this clean, but I think a couple of the ranch hands might have used it,” I said as we got to the door.

  The loft consisted of two rooms. There was a small bathroom and in the main living space: a small kitchenette to one side, a sofa and a couple of armchairs, in the corner, a double bed. I’d often stayed up there during my late teens, before I decided to do the fight circuit. It was a comfortable room and, thankfully, clean and tidy.

  “It’s lovely,” Lily said as she stood and looked around.

  “Sierra and I stayed here often, before Taylor was born. She loved it.”

  “I can imagine that she did.”

  “How about I let you freshen up? I’ll speak to Mom and Taylor, explain we have a guest if Dad hasn’t already, and then give you a call to join us for dinner. I need to let Thomas know about all this, but don’t worry. I’ll make sure he knows you’re not willing to talk to him.”

  “Sierra spoke about Thomas before, she trusted him, I think.”

  “Well, if you feel you can talk to him, informally, it would help us.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  I nodded, and for a moment, there was an awkward silence as I stared at her. She gave me a small smile.

  “I’ll be back shortly, okay?” I said as I opened the door to leave.

  “Gabriel?” I heard. I hesitated with my back to her. “Thank you,” she said.

  “Well,” Dad said as I crossed the barn.

  We walked out into the yard and out of earshot.

  “I don’t know that she’ll talk to Thomas, but I do think she knows more than she’s saying. She’s scared though.”

  “I’ve told your mom, she’s a little cross that we didn’t fill her in before now, but it’s only right that she knows since we have a guest.”

  “Fair enough. I’ll go and see her now, then I need to head back into town, see if I can catch Thomas.”

  Mom was in the kitchen and Taylor was sitting at the table drawing. Taylor ran and jumped into my arms when she saw me.

  “Hey, baby girl. You’ve been shopping I hear,” I said.

  “We have. Grandma bought me a new dress, do you want to see it?”

  “Of course I want to see it.”

  I lowered Taylor to the floor and she ran back to the table to retrieve her dress. She held it to her and twirled for me.

  “That is so pretty,” I said. “I need to have a word with your grandma, okay?”

  Mom and I walked out on the porch.

  “I’m sorry to keep you in the dark, I just wasn’t sure about what I’m finding out right now,” I said.

  “I don’t like to be kept in the dark, Gabriel, and I don’t especially like you asking your dad to keep a secret from me.”

  “It wasn’t that it was a secret, I just needed to get things straight in my own head first.”

  “So, tell me about Lily.”

  I filled her in on what we already knew, which wasn’t much at all. The more I retold what I’d learned, the more confused I became. I knew so much more than I had before, but none of it helped.

  “Taylor is worn out today, why don’t I give her a meal now and then an early night. We can have dinner after. It gives us all an opportunity to talk.”

  “Sounds like a good idea.”

  I spent an hour with Taylor checking out the horses, trying on the new dress, and I even fixed her hair before sitting with her while she ate. I felt guilty that I wasn’t spending as much time with her as I should have been. I’d closed up the garage but we had work stacking up. I’d have to go back soon, meaning I’d have even less time for my daughter.

  I sat with her while she snuggled up in bed and read her a story. When I’d come to the end of the book I noticed she had already fallen asleep.

  “Sleep well, baby girl,” I whispered as I kissed her forehead.

  I knocked on the door of the loft and waited. I heard the shuffle of feet as Lily came to the other side. She didn’t open the door immediately.

  “Mom has dinner ready, if you’re hungry,” I said.

  The sound of multiple bolts being released echoed around the barn.

  “Your dad came over and put some security on the door for me,” she said, by way of explanation for the delay.

  “That’s good. Are you hungry?”

  “Starving, I haven’t eaten since yesterday.”

  “Why the fuck didn’t you say? I cou
ld have brought something over for you.”

  She shrugged her shoulders as she slipped on her sneakers. When I studied her face, it was clear she had been crying.

  “Do I have time just to wash my face and brush my hair?”

  “Of course, I’ll wait here for you.”

  She smiled and made her way to the bathroom. I stood on the landing outside the door. I didn’t want to walk into the loft without invitation. Thankfully my wait was short.

  “Lily, come on in,” Mom said as we reached the house. She had been ushering Dad from his usual spot on the porch.

  We followed to the kitchen. The table was laid with a feast of chicken, sweet potatoes, corn, and vegetables grown in the garden.

  “I hope you’re hungry,” Mom said. “Now, take a seat and let me fetch some drinks.”

  Mom handed Dad and me a beer and filled a glass for Lily with iced tea.

  “Maybe Lily would like a beer,” I said with a smile.

  “Iced tea is fine by me, Mrs. Malone,” Lily replied.

  “Tsk, enough with the Mrs. Malone, that was my mother-in-law’s name, and she wasn’t a nice person. It’s Rebecca,” Mom replied.

  Dad chuckled as he loaded up his plate.

  We kept the conversation light while eating. Lily and Mom spoke about the ranch, the garden, her vegetable plot, and Taylor, anything other than the situation that had brought her to be sitting at our table. It was a little forced, but as the evening wore on, Lily became more relaxed. It was when she laughed at something Mom said that I had to excuse myself.

  I was sat on the porch, smoking a cigarette, when Dad joined me.

  “Difficult for you, huh?”

  “Yeah. When she talks, laughs, she reminds me of Sierra.”

  “I can imagine. Are you up to a discussion? I think your mom has plans for a family meeting right now, over coffee.”

  I ground the cigarette in the ashtray Dad kept beside his chair and stood. He placed his hand on my back and gave me a smile.

  “You’re doing good, Son.”

  “I’m trying, Dad. I’m trying very hard to keep it all together right now.”

  Mom and Lily were in the process of clearing the table, a pot of coffee and mugs were placed in the middle, and we took our seats again.

  “So, we need to make a plan. Lily, you are welcome to stay here for as long as you need to. We have people around to keep you safe, but in return, you need to help us. If you can do that, this nightmare ends, for all of us,” Mom said, taking me by surprise.

  Lily stared at her mug for a few seconds before answering.

  “I always knew there was something missing in my life. I had good foster parents; they weren’t loving but they cared for me. They told me about my mother, and I’m pretty sure they must have told me I had a sister. I just knew I wasn’t the only one, does that make sense?”

  “It does, I guess sometimes we can feel inside that we have kin. Maybe there was something in your distant memory that kept her alive a little,” Mom replied.

  “Well, I got on with life. I had various jobs straight from school, but then found one I liked and I stayed until Sierra got in contact.”

  “Can you tell us about that?” Mom said.

  “I’d just finished for the day. I was packing up my desk, and I know this might sound strange, but I'd had an odd feeling all day. Something like a sense of foreboding, I guess. I left the office and was halfway across the street when I saw her. She was waiting for me. I can’t say I recognized her as my sister, at first. But, as you can see, we are very alike. From where I was, initially, I thought she was my mom. I know I stumbled. A car honked because I just stood in the middle of the road. Anyway, she walked over to me, took my hand, and without a word led me to the sidewalk. We didn’t speak for a while; we just looked at each other.

  “I didn’t know what to say, to be honest. And then we cried. I think at that point I realized who she was; I saw flashbacks of us as children in my mind. The first thing I asked her was why had she left me.”

  “What was her answer, Lily?” I said.

  Lily turned in her chair to face me.

  “She had no choice, of course. A family had come to the convent wanting to adopt initially. Sierra said she brushed my hair and made me wear the prettiest dress she could find. She held my hand and led me to the ‘line up’.”

  “The line up?” I asked.

  “Yes, it was like a cattle auction. Adults would come and we would be paraded in front of them, sold off to the highest bidder. I don’t know if that’s true or just a distorted memory. I remember talking to my foster parents and then it was a few days later, it could have been longer I guess, I left. That was it, I never saw her again.”

  “Tell us about that first meeting,” Dad asked.

  It was clear Lily was getting distressed having to recall those memories. She fidgeted on her chair and poured a second cup of coffee before she continued.

  “We went for a coffee, she held my hand the whole time. She…She told me about her time there, at the convent. She’d run away as soon as she was old enough.”

  “Did you know about the diary? That was Sierra’s wasn’t it?” I asked. Bile had risen to my throat.

  Lily nodded and kept her gaze back on her mug. I failed to stop the sob that left my mouth. I failed to stop the tears that ran down my cheeks.

  “Fuckers. Fucking…” I didn’t have the words to truly express the hatred, the anger, and the sickness that flooded my body all at once.

  “We were bred to be abused,” I heard.

  Lily had spoken so quietly I wasn’t sure I heard correctly.

  “Say that again,” I said, my earlier tears had frozen on my face from the coldness that coursed over my body at her words.

  “We were bred to be abused.”

  No one spoke, not a breath could be heard being taken. My heart hammered in my chest and the hand holding my mug, shook. I slowly lowered it to the table and watched the rings of liquid spread outwards, as if a pebble had been thrown into the center. Fuck.

  The ‘pebble’ Lily had just thrown us was a boulder, and the ripples were tsunamis about to destroy all the good I thought religion had to offer.

  “Oh my God,” Mom whispered.

  “So now you know, Gabriel. Your wife was their toy, for years. She was one of the lucky ones though; she was prized. It had something to do with my mother. They thought her divine, angelic, I think. She was impregnated. Whether that was against her wishes, I have no idea. And then, according to Sierra, when she wasn’t useful anymore, they killed her.”

  Finally she looked up at me. There was an air of defiance about her. Her earlier tears had dried up, her features hardened.

  “I will say this one thing, Gabriel. Trust no one, and I mean, no one. The church is so much more powerful than you imagine.”

  With that she stood. “I’m sorry, Rebecca, I’m really tired now. I very much appreciate your meal and the coffee, but I need to sleep.”

  Mom rose from her chair and I noticed her stumble very slightly. As if the shock of what we had learned had been too much for her. She waved away my hand of support.

  “I’ll walk with you, Lily. I want to make sure you settle okay.”

  Dad and I were back on the porch waiting on Mom. We hadn’t spoken a word since Lily had left the table, still digesting her words.

  My hands shook as I lit my cigarette. I didn’t generally smoke in front of my parents, especially Mom, who hated it.

  “Do you believe that?” he quietly asked.

  “Sierra obviously did,” I replied.

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Neither do I, Dad, neither do I.”

  I watched Mom walk back from the barn entrance. Her face was ashen, and in that moment, she looked ten years older.

  “How is she?” I asked.

  “Distraught right now. I think with all the talking earlier, the dam has burst for her. She needs some time alone to digest all those suppressed
memories that are flooding back. You did the right thing, Gabe, bringing her here.”

  “I still have so many questions though,” I said.

  “All in good time. She’s opening up, slowly. It has to be hard for her. Her world has been turned upside down as well.”

  Mom sat beside me on the swing seat. “Hand me one of those beers,” she said.

  Mom never drank alcohol; maybe the occasional wine at Thanksgiving, Christmas, or birthday parties. I figured we all needed something to help deal with the information we had gained.

  “So what do we do now?” Dad asked.

  “I need to let Thomas know everything we do, I guess,” I replied.

  “I think we also need to ask Zachary for advice,” Mom said.

  “I’m not sure about that. He’s part of the church, Mom. That puts him in an awkward position and will she talk to him?”

  “This has all gotten so complicated, I just don’t know what to think right now. I didn’t know that,” she said.

  “None of us did, Mom.”

  I placed my arm around her shoulders, feeling how bony she’d become as of late. I hadn’t noticed how thin she was. Mom wasn’t a frail woman, she was as strong as an ox and kept fit helping around the ranch and in her garden. I guessed I just hadn’t thought about how old she really was.

  In all the drama of the day, I had forgotten about my messages to Sister Anna. After listening to Lily, I was unsure whether to send another. I wanted Sister Anna to know Lily was with us but didn’t want to do that over the phone. I didn’t know who, if anyone, was monitoring our calls, our text messages. Or even if those people had the capability of doing so. Then I remembered what Thomas had said; his shady friend could, so I guessed it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility for someone in the church to do so.

  I’d been around criminals, there were plenty of them in the underground fight community, but I was way out of my depth with this. I fought to earn money and because I was good at it, not because I got a thrill being involved in the criminality of it all.

  I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed Thomas, I needed to share the information, sooner rather than later. I’d hate to forget something that could be important.