Salem Moon (27 page)

“
D
evil
’
s Tear Swamp,
”
said Gabriel gasping for air as if he
’
d
been submerged in water. These were his first words upon waking. He did not want to risk forgetting anything. It could be a matter of life or death for Lilac. He repeated it again and again in his mind
, holding
tight to the visions of that wretched place he
’
d
traveled to in his dream.

Lily stirred from her sleep in a state of confusion, but smiled when she saw he was still with her. She brought his face to hers and kissed him lightly.

“
Mmmm, what did you say?
”
She stretched her body as nimbly as a cat.

“
Devil
’
s Tear Swamp, that
’
s where she is, Lilac. She is
alive
, I saw her with my own eyes
.
A
shadow drifting past the dirty window panes in the place she is being held…I
know
it was her!
”

Lily shot out of bed as if a gun had gone off and began to dress quickly, all thoughts of spending a leisurely morning in bed with Gabriel gone.

It had been four days since her friend had gone missing; days in which Lily had still gone to work at the museum
and
still saw Gabriel
. She
felt a twinge of guilt.

Even though she
’
d called virtually everyone in town that knew Lilac, hell, she
’
d even called those that knew
of
her through mutual friends. She
’
d called all the young men and some not so young men that Lilac had been intimate with
.
Some
showed concern
,
while others leeringly suggested that she was off
“
doing what she did best.
”

Lily cringed at some of their
comments;
still, she
pushed on, attempting to locate her friend. She
’
d
kept in constant contact with Jack and Jillian Thompson, Lilac
’
s parents who sounded increasingly weary and defeated.

Now, if Gabriel
’
s dream
was correct, they would find her. A thought occurred to her then: how was she going to explain
how
she knew where Lilac was? Surely, some suspicion would fall directly on Gabriel.

In fact, Jack had originally suspected he had something to do with her disappearance, until Lawrence and Chloe had vouched for him. But, he
’
d told her last night that he was no longer welcome there. He
’
d planned to pick up his things today and stay in the old carriage house at the far corner of the Snow property. The only one that ever went there was Dylan and he was
n
’
t
likely to say anything. Both, because he worshipped his sister and he genuinely liked Gabriel.

“
Lily, let
’
s go, we need to go to the police at once! I was not able to see what kind of condition Lucien left her in. I got the impression that he is growing tired of her. It makes me sick to think of what he may do to her. Or, he may plan to just leave her there to die.
”

She just stood there, gazing out of the window, biting the nail of her index finger, deep in thought, a vision of beauty as always. Gabriel
could look at her all day, but he pushed such thoughts aside
. He
was well aware of the
urgency of the situation
. I
n his mind he heard the hollow, evil laughter of Lucien going round and round
in his head
.

“
Hang on a sec…I
’
m thinkin
’
. You know, we can
’
t just call this into the station. They
’
ll trace the call and they
’
ll know it was us.
”

“
So?
”
Of course he had no idea what tracing a call even meant.

“
So, how are we going to explain that we know where she is? I mean, Devil
’
s Tear Swamp…down south? How in the world would we know that?
”

Gabriel saw their plight and nodded.
“
So, what do we do, then?
”

“
I know where there
’
s an old pay phone, on the outskirts of Salem. That
’
s our best bet
,
that
’
s if it still works. We
’
ll call it in anonymously.
”

Lily climbed into the driver
’
s seat of her car. An
“
arrest me red
”
Chevy Camaro Lily had received from her parents as a high school graduation gift.
However, being Lily she insisted on paying for it herself.
Gabriel just stood there, looking over this sleek,
shiny machine fearfully. He
’
d
seen them on the roads in this time, but had never actually been
inside
one.

“
Yeah, I know they didn
’
t have these in
1692, but trust me, y
ou
’
re gonna love it
.
I promise. And it
’
ll get us there
fast
.
Hop in.
”

Gabriel barely had time to close the passenger side door when the vehicle sped forward,
just
as fast as Lily said it would.

During the drive, they decided Lily would make the call with the information Gabriel was now writing down on a piece of paper. He hoped she would be able to read it
. H
e was having a hell of a time trying to write while the car was in motion. When he was done, he looked out the window as trees and road and all manner of houses passed by in a blur. He had no idea about such things as
“
speed limits,
”
to him it
seemed like they were traveling airborne
.

“
Relax, Gabriel.
”
Lily lightly touched his hand, soothing and seductive all at once.
W
hen he surrendered to the movement of the vehicle, he found it exhilarating
.
He even opened
the
window and let the wind tousle his hair, and blow in his face.

“
You okay?
”
Lily asked, smiling at him.

“
Yes, thank you for asking.
”
He
smiled back at her,
revealing his
luscious dimples. They were both comfortably quiet, enjoying this time together. Although, they knew it would be short lived. There was so much going on
. Not just
with Lilac and Lucien
, but with them as well. At
the very core of it all, because of their last names, the odds were stacked against them.

Lily finally pulled off onto the soft shoulder of road, and there before them stood an old log cabin type building, with a faded sign boasting
“
The Country Store.
”
The site had
long been
abandoned. All the windows
were
broken and there was graffiti written in various spots on all four sides of the structure. The wind blew through the glass creating an eerie, desolate sound.

The deserted nature, coupled with the forlorn sound of the wind, gave Gabriel and Lily the creeps. It had been eons since she
’
d been here.

The high school kids in town used it to make out late at night. That explained the empty cans and other trash strewn about the property. But, there on the right side of the building was the pay phone
. It was s
till here, the cord still intact, incredibly, no one had vandalized it
.
Now, if it only
worked
, thought Lily.

“
Come on.
”
Lily grabbed Gabriel
’
s hand and they ran over to the phone. She took the receiver from its cradle and heard a dial tone
.
It worked
!
She could barely believe their luck. Fishing out some change, she slid it into the coin depository.

Knowing Chief Thompson and perhaps most of the police force would probably recognize her voice, she handed the phone to Gabriel. On the trip over, they
’
d come to the conclusion that it had to be Gabriel
who
made the call, he would simply have to change his voice, drop the slight English accent and speak in a low voice.

“
Salem Police Department, this is Helen, how may I direct your call?
”
The voice had a tinny, echoing quality, but that was probably due to the phone connection, which was poor but at least audible.

“
I would like to speak with Chief Thompson please, it is urgent,
”
Gabriel said, unaware that the connection was poor, marveling at the receiver in his hand, at the voice coming from the other end, as he always did when using the phone.
There seemed there was nothing that could not be achieved in this age
, he thought.

J
ack Thompson was unavailable when Gabriel called. The dispatcher, Helen, took all the information, writing as fast as possible. She repeatedly asked for the caller
’
s name, but he would not tell her with whom she was speaking. She decided not to waste any time trying to get a name. If this information was accurate, she knew Chief Thompson wouldn
’
t give a rat
’
s ass who called it in and wouldn
’
t chastise her for not getting the caller
’
s name.
She called the Chief
’
s cell phone.

“
Chief Thompson.
”

She quickly explained what the caller had told her. She
heard
his voice change
. He
sounded
weary, defeated
at first.
Then, hearing the news she relayed,
his
tone changed to one of hope and excitement.

“
Let me see if I got this straight, Helen. She
’
s
in Louisiana?
”
He
was
excited! Now, he might be able to do something to find his daughter, rather than just chasing his tail
.

“
Yes, sir, a place called Devil
’
s Tear Swamp
;
it
’
s
in Saint John the Baptist parish, just Northwest of New Orleans. Must be a very small bayou, it doesn
’
t appear on any map.
”

“
So, is it a bayou or a swamp?
”
asked Jack.

“
A bayou and a swamp are the same thing, at least that
’
s what I read when I looked up the information the caller gave me. I went on Google and got the specifics on the location, including longitude and latitude.
”

Thank Christ Helen was so efficient.
Sometimes she could be a pain in the ass with her Google searches and sharing of useless information,
Jack thought
. N
ot this time.

“
Book a flight to New Orleans ASAP and contact the police chief of this…parish. Let him or her know we
’
re on our way. Be sure to have all the info, including the coordinate
’
s ready when I get there. Have officer
s
Collins and Weston waiting. Let them know not to make any plans; they
’
ll be going with me.
”

“
Consider it done, sir
.