Billy: A Tale Of Unrelenting Terror (11 page)

"Like I said, Detective, as long as you get results, I don’t give a shit how you get them. Of course, there is one thing you might want to keep in mind."

"What’s that?" Nick asked.

"Everyone ‘round here has heard those stories about that thing hunting people deep in the swamp. You know and I know that’s all a bunch of superstitious nonsense, but some of these yokels ‘round here believe that shit. You’re gonna have to put a search party together to go out there, and you might find those stories could make that difficult to do."

"Yeah, I thought about that, too. Got any suggestions, Sheriff?"

"Jean Landry and his clan are the closest thing you’ll find to knowing anything about the St. Pierres. He knows where they live and how to get there. I doubt that he’d be willing to even talk to you though, much less take you out there. If I were you, I’d ask Charlie and Dean to hook you up. They’ll know who’s who and what’s what. Invite them out for a beer or two, and I’m sure they’ll help you out."

"Thanks, Sheriff, I appreciate the advice."

"No problem, just get it done before anyone else comes up missing. We need to nip this swamp monster crap in the bud before things get out of hand."

Nicholas could not have agreed with the sheriff more. The ridiculous stories of supernatural creatures lurking in the swamp were only going to make an already difficult job even harder. The sooner they laid these rumors to rest, the better for everyone.

Nick took his boss’s advice and asked the two deputies out for drinks that evening. They both readily agreed – so readily that Nick figured the sheriff had already advised them to help out the new guy. Nicholas was thankful for the man’s intervention. He was the odd man out and, left to his own devices, he might have a hard time finding locals willing to give him some help – help he desperately needed.

Although Nick had grown up in the area, he was now a city boy at heart. He hated the swamp. He didn’t own a boat. He didn’t go fishing or hunting and had no idea what he was doing when it came to navigating the vast wetlands he was being forced to enter. Without a local guide, he was dead in the water. Under the circumstances, that was not an expression that gave him any comfort.

That evening, he met the two men at a local watering hole – Pete’s Landing. The place was a little run down, not much bigger than a double-wide trailer, covered with neon signs, and with a shell-covered parking lot off of the main highway. There wasn’t much competition for clientele, so Pete’s generally had a fairly decent size crowd. That Thursday night was no exception.

"Good to see you again, Nick," Dean said as they shook hands. "You remember Deputy Charlie Doucet."

"Yes, sir, I believe so," Nick replied.

"Follow me. We have a table in the back where we can talk," Dean said as he walked toward a corner booth.

"I’m sure the waitress will be over in a few. The service is usually pretty good here," Charlie stated as he and Dean took swigs of their beers. "I hope you don’t mind that we started without you."

"Of course not," Nick replied. "I’ll just have to play a little catch-up. That is, if y’all don’t mind."

"Nope, not a bit," Dean answered.

"Bobby said you’re gonna need some help putting a search party together," Charlie stated.

"Yep, sure am."

"Normally that wouldn’t be much of a problem. Unfortunately, things haven’t been too normal around here lately," Charlie said.

"Everyone’s spooked," Dean added. "They’re all afraid of that damn thing out there. Damndest thing, if you ask me; a bunch of grown men acting like children, hiding from monsters in their closets."

"It’s real enough to them, I suppose," Charlie said. "The stories are coming every day now. People seeing things, hearing things; some of them stories sound pretty spooky, too. You sure you want to go out there?"

"Yeah, well I don’t believe in ghosts, or monsters," Nick answered. "I am no fan of the swamp, but if I can go into the projects in New Orleans in the middle of the night looking for gang-banging crack dealers, I sure ain’t afraid of some made-up bullshit about the boogey man."

The men laughed.

"No," Dean said. "I guess you aren’t. We’re in luck; here comes our waitress."

"Hello, Nick. It’s been a long time."

Nick looked up and his heart skipped a beat. He felt a lump in his throat, but he pushed through it and feebly responded, "Marie, it’s good to see you."

"You two know each other?" Dean asked.

"Obviously, they know each other," Charlie said. "Great detective work there, Deputy."

"I’m sorry to hear about your mother," Marie said. "We’re all
en d’oeuille
over her passing."

"Yes," Nick responded. "She was a good woman. It’s hard to believe she’s gone."

"I saw her from time to time when I went to visit my
parran
at the nursing home. She told me what a success you’ve become, living over in the city and all. That woman sure loved you."

"Yes, she did. I loved her, too. I’m sorry I didn’t come to visit her enough when she was here. Now, all I’ve got left is regret."

"Enough of that to go around,
Boo
," Marie said before looking up and addressing the others at the table, "Can I get y’all another round?"

"Sure thing," Charlie said. "You can give me and Dean another of the same. What about you, Nick? What’re you having?"

"You can bring me one of those, I guess," Nick answered. "On second thought, might want to bring me two; I’ve got some catching up to do."

After Marie left the table to tend to the drinks, Dean spoke up first. "I didn’t know you and Marie knew each other. Small world, I guess."

"Yep, small world," Nick replied. "We dated in high school for a bit. Last I heard, she got married to Ronnie Savoy."

"They’re divorced," Charlie said. "It’s been a couple of years now. Of course, he still comes around and gives her trouble from time to time. His family came into a load of cash from some oil leases, and now the lot of them think they own the parish and everyone in it. Way I hear it, she caught him cattin’ around town with a stripper and left him. He’s been giving her hell about it ever since."

"I’m sorry to hear that," Nick said. "It’s been a long time since I’ve seen either one of them. I hadn’t really thought about them for a long time."

That was a lie. Nick thought about Marie all of the time, even after all these years. Sure, he’d had a number of girlfriends and even a couple of serious relationships in the time since he left and started a life elsewhere, but there was only one first love. Marie LeBlanc was his.

He had to admit to himself that he wasn’t entirely unhappy about the failure of her marriage, although he was not pleased that Marie had to suffer any abuse from her ex-husband. Nick remembered Ronald Savoy to be somewhat of a jerk, but he also knew that his opinion of the friend that ran off with the girl he loved wasn’t the most objective it could be. Still, he reasoned, even though he had suffered a broken heart in silence for so long over the matter, he felt no joy in seeing Marie struggle because of her unfortunate choice in life.

"Well, here is something that you might be happy to hear about," Dean stated. "We think we have someone that’s willing to take you out in search of those lost kids."

"Go on," Nick said.

"Charlie here has a cousin, Frank Guidry, that runs the swamp all of the time and knows it like the back of his hand. Ain’t that right, Charlie?"

"Sure does. He and his boy are gator hunters. They go deep into the swamp all the time – day, night, rain, or shine," Charlie answered. "I know for a fact that Bobby’s willing to put enough cash on the table for Cap’n Guidry and son to hire a few of their buddies and take you wherever you need to go. Of course, there are a few catches, as always."

"Such as?" asked Nick.

Before Charlie could answer, Marie was back at the table with the drinks. They resumed casual conversation until she left again to tend to the other customers vying for her attention.

"For one thing," Dean answered, "you have to keep the talk about that swamp monster to a minimum. Some of them boys are highly superstitious, and they aren’t going to be too keen to go anywhere they might end up some creature’s lunch."

"Now, why would I even bring that up?" Nick asked.

"No reason," answered Charlie, "so don’t. But some of them will. Don’t mock their beliefs when they do, just keep your mouth shut as much as possible. Without them, you’re stuck. You screw it up, ain’t no one else going to take you out there, in which case, you’re out of luck, out of a job, out of a paycheck, and out of here."

"Gotcha," Nick nodded, "anything else?"

"First person y’all gonna look up is Jean Landry. He ain’t gonna talk to you, no how. Best to let Francois do the talking," said Charlie.

"Francois?" asked Nick.

"Frank; Cap’n Guidry," answered Charlie. "And that’s another thing; call him Cap’n, not Captain, Skipper, Mr. Guidry, and definitely not, Francois. He hates that. I call him Frank, but that’s his son’s name, and he’ll be along, too. He don’t go nowhere without Junior. Just as well, too; that boy’s as good as they come to knowing that swamp. Only his Daddy knows more about the wetlands than he does, so you’ll be in good company."

"Not a problem," said Nick. "So when do we set this up?"

"Already set up," answered Dean. "They’re gonna meet you tomorrow at the boat launch over by Bayou Pigeon Road. I’ll pick you up early, say around six, and we’ll ride out there together, so you don’t get lost."

With that, the two deputies finished their beers and left. They made no mention of Nick’s hanging back awhile. The men figured he had some catching up to do with his highschool sweetheart. Nick left the table and found a spot at the bar. He waited for the crowd to thin so he would get a chance to talk to Marie again. Before his chance came, he felt a sharp slap on his back and looked around in time to see a drunken Ronnie Savoy standing at his side.

"Long time no see, Nicky," Ronnie shouted out. "How’s things goin’?"

"Hello, Ronnie," Nick answered.

"Sorry to hear ‘bout your Mama. I heard she was a good woman. A good maid, too, as I understand it. One of my cousins used to rave ‘bout what a bang-up job she did with the tile floors in her bathroom," Ronnie laughed.

"You’re exactly how I remembered you," stated Nick. "Same ol’ prick as in high school."

"
Coo-wee
! A prick you say?" Ronnie said with a feigned sense of indignation. "I see you still sore ‘bout me stealin’ your girl. Come on now, that be a long time ago,
couyon
. Ain’t you got over that yet? Don’t matter now, no how. We ain’t together no more. She’s a real bitch to live with; I did you a favor."

"Well
merci beaucoup
," Nick said sarcastically. "As much as I’d love to sit here and catch up on old times, I think I’m going to get going; some of us have to work in the morning. You be careful driving, Ronnie. I’d really hate to hear about anything bad happening to you."

"Same ol’ Nicky," said Ronnie. "Always taking off, abandoning people. You ran out of town when Marie dumped you; you ran out on your Mama, leaving her all alone to fend for herself. Never even came to see her as she withered away over there at St. Gabriel’s. Ran out on your whole city, too, when the floods came. I heard ‘bout you goin’ out in dem swamps to look for dem people. You hated the swamp; I’m sure you still do. I wouldn’t take you out there. I’m sure you gonna jet out of there soon as there’s trouble, leave everyone else to fend for themselves."

"Think what you will, Ronnie," Nick said. "Thinking was never your strong point. Yeah, I left when I had the chance. Ran all the way to college, got a degree, and then I ran all the way to the city for a career. You wouldn’t know a thing about that, would you, dumbass? Some people leave, some just have others wish they would. Maybe you should ask Marie about that."

Ronnie ignored Nick’s taunts. He was on a drunken roll. "I hear there’s a monster creepin’ ‘round out there, just waiting for a tasty morsel like you to come ‘round," Ronnie said with glee. "You be sure to think of me when he takes the first bite."

"I’ll do that, Ronnie," answered Nick, "and I’ll tell the Easter Bunny to leave you an extra chocolate egg while I’m at it, you dumb fucking
coonass
."

Ronnie stood up like he was going to throw a punch, only to slink away muttering under his breath when Nick met the challenge. Nick turned and walked toward the door, nodding to Marie on the way out. Marie nodded back, much to the dismay of Ronnie, who was sure to berate her with what was left of his drunken rage.

Marie didn’t care; she was used to it. It had been the same ever since they broke up. Ronnie wasn’t going to let her get on with her life as long as he could help it. With the considerable weight his family threw around the parish, it was hard to stop him. Even the sheriff and his boys weren’t able to do much unless Ronnie crossed the line, and Ronnie just pushed up close to the line.

Marie sighed; such was her life, but she had worse things on her mind. She overheard enough to know Nick was going out in the swamp. Ronnie had been right. Nick hated the swamp. He’d be lost out there. Marie had heard the stories about the creature that was hunting people. She didn’t want to believe them, but there was something going on. Everyone had been talking about it for months. Now, Nick was going right into the belly of the beast. Maybe he wasn’t scared, but Marie was terrified.

Chapter Seventeen

Cap’n Guidry

D
ean picked up Nick at six a.m. sharp, and they set out for the Bayou Pigeon boat launch. It was important to catch Cap’n Guidry and son early, as the two weren’t going to be waiting around for any length of time for law enforcement to show up when there were important things to do. They made their life fishing and hunting for gators in the swamp, and any time wasted on dry land was money out of their pockets. When Dean and Nick showed up, the two were already preparing for the day’s hunt.