Chapter 13

Detective Lahey bit the back of his ballpoint pen and stared at the documents scattered over his desk. He sat slouched in the chair, despite the persistent pain shooting from his lower back. His shoe made a quiet tapping sound against the dark wooden floor as his right leg shook quickly.



“What’s the connection?” He muttered to himself as he hit the table with the bottom of his fist in frustration.

“Fuck!” The detective yelled as he violently pushed the contents of his desk onto the floor. He waited for his heart rate to return to a steady pace before leaning down to pick up the documents.

The detective held up a worn photo of Elena and her male counterpart against the dim lamp that was positioned at the right side of his desk. Under the lighting, he could just make out the words scrambled on the back. He turned the picture over to reveal the name “Luca Vandoren” written in his own messy cursive writing.

“Luca Vandoren…” He mumbled under his breath as he typed the name into the database that was already open on his MacBook Air.

“Hometown Port Haven…son of Blair and Erik Vandoren…” He read quietly as he scrolled down the page.

The detective scrolled back up quickly and re-read Luca’s hometown.

“Port Haven…Port Haven…Port Haven…” He repeated to himself multiple times. Now where did he hear that name before? It sounded so familiar, if only he could determine its origin.

“PORT HAVEN!” He shouted as he slammed both of his hands down onto the desk. Was it a coincidence that Luca, Noel, and Alaska were all originally from Port Haven? Being the only whim he had, he whipped his cellphone out of his back pocket and dialled the number of his chief with swift fingers.



“Get a search warrant and team ready, I think I’m onto something.”

~

[Two Years Ago]

A much younger Noel hopped off of his red mountain bike and walked it up the freshly paved driveway of the Vandoren household. He leaned his bike against the classic brown and white garage and hurried across the cobblestone path. He knocked on the door and waited patiently for Luca to greet him. To his surprise, the door opened to acquaint him with Ms.Vandoren.



“Are you here to see Luca?” She asked sweetly. Her long auburn hair bounced lightly around her face as she spoke.

“Yeah, he told me he would be home,” Noel replied, twirling the strap of his backpack shyly.

“I’m sorry, but he’s still at soccer practice. He should be home soon, why don’t you wait inside?”

Noel nodded and stepped inside of the house. He stood awkwardly at the door as Ms.Vandoren walked into the living room.

“Don’t be shy, come in!” She urged as she waved her hand for Noel to follow her.

Ms.Vandoren pointed towards a spot on the couch for Noel to sit. She walked past him and sat on the couch directly across from him.



“What’s your name, sweetie?”

“Noel Tobais.”

“Are you in my son’s year?”

“Yeah...grade 9.”

“How are you liking your first year of high school?”

“It’s okay…”

“Oh, you must be thirsty riding your bike all the way here. Let me get you something to drink!” She suggested with embarrassment.



Before Noel could protest, Ms.Vandoren had disappeared into the kitchen. Noel rearranged himself on the sofa as he heard the clinking and clanging of glassware from the other room. Ms.Vandoren returned with an array of soft drinks standing neatly on a tray.

“Have anything you like,” she said as she sat down next to Noel and offered him the tray.

Noel picked up a can of Coke and opened it gingerly. He took a huge gulp before placing the can back on the tray.

“Thanks,” Noel said, smiling at Ms.Vandoren.

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“You are very welcome,” she replied as she squeezed his thigh. Noel’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed slowly.

“What time did you say he was coming back?” Noel asked as he looked at his watch with fake interest.

“Anytime now…” She trailed off as she studied the boy’s face.

“Do I have something?” Noel asked as he touched his face quickly.

“Just a bit of coke,” Ms.Vandoren replied as she wiped the stain away with her index finger.

Ms.Vandoren was now dangerously close to Noel. So close that Noel could smell her faint vanilla perfume; sexy yet playful.

“Thanks…” Noel said, keeping a watchful eye on the door.

“Just call me Blair,” she replied as she leaned in closer.

Their lips were now inches apart; separated only by the stale air that hung in the darkened living room.



Blair retreated as the sound of keys pierced through the house like an arrow. Noel dug his fingernails into the leather couch in surprise.

“Mooooom?” Came Luca’s voice from the doorway.



“Luca, look who’s here to see you!” Ms.Vandoren said, smiling widely as she regained her elegant posture.

Noel’s heart pounded violently in his chest as Luca kicked off his black Nike cleats and made his way over to where Noel was seated. Noel wondered if his beating heart would expose the unspeakable moment that Ms.Vandoren and him had just shared. Too naïve to notice, Luca sat next to Noel and rambled about how hard the coach had been on him at practice today. Ms.Vandoren got up and brushed off her skirt quietly.

“I’ll leave you two,” she said to no one in particular as she hung around the archway.

“Finally,” Luca muttered quietly, “I hope she wasn’t all weird or anything.”

“No, not at all,” Noel replied quickly. An uneasy feeling welled up inside of him as Blair looked back at him once more before she sauntered out of the living room.



~

Detective Lahey sped towards the address that he had obtained from the database.

“Make a left in 200 metres,” stated the GPS woman in her monotone expression.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” the detective spoke aloud as he shut off the GPS.

As the detective turned onto Luca’s street, he began to decelerate and slowed down to a crawl. He peered at the town house through the car’s tinted windows and was disappointed to see that there was nothing out of the ordinary. Lahey turned the engine off and adjusted his gun strap, although he probably wouldn’t need it. He slipped out of his cruiser and walked towards the front door, ready to end the mystery once and for all.



~

[Two Years Ago]

“I can’t do this today,” Noel whispered harshly into his cellphone. He smiled kindly at an elderly lady who had turned around to stare at him.

“No, I still like being with you….just not today,” Noel sighed as he examined a jar of pizza sauce.

“How abo-” Before Noel could reschedule, Blair had already hung up on the other end of the line.

Noel placed the glass jar into his shopping cart gently, afraid that it would drop and scatter its red contents all over the clean, white floor.

“You found it!” Came Alaska’s voice. She walked over to Noel juggling pizza dough and various toppings in her petite arms.

“Let me get that,” Noel said. He grabbed the largest items from her arms just before the shredded mozzarella cheese was about to fall.



“My hero,” she said as she batted her eyelashes.

Noel rolled his eyes as he followed a skipping Alaska down the aisle.

~

“Um, yes I am Ms.Vandoren. Who’s asking?” Blair asked the detective, blocking the doorway in a very strategic manner.

“Detective Lahey,” the man replied as he held up his golden badge.

The colour began to drain from Blair’s face as she stared at the badge with her wide hazel eyes.

“Ma’am, is your son home?” Lahey asked, looking past Ms.Vandoren and into her house.

“No, he’s not.” Ms.Vandoren stated, trying desperately to keep her composure.



“I’ll be back then,” the detective replied, eyeing Blair once more before heading back to his sleek cruiser.

Blair shut the door quickly and leaned on it for support. She walked unsteadily towards the stairs and grabbed onto the bannister for support.

“Mom, who was that?” Luca asked, running down the stairs.

Blair sniffled, “Luca, there’s something you should know.”



~

[Two Years Ago]

“Who keeps calling you?” Alaska asked politely. The corner of her eyes crinkled slightly as she smiled.

Noel looked down at his phone and wondered if he should tell Alaska that the person who was calling was his best friend’s mother- one that he had slept with numerous times.

“Ah…it’s no one,” he replied. That wasn’t necessarily a lie, since Blair was indeed “no one” to him now.

Alaska sighed as she took a bite out of her sandwich which was very close to falling apart in her hands.



“We should get going, it’s getting late,” Noel said, checking the time on his phone. Suddenly, his phone vibrated and a message appeared from Blair.

“Call me.” It stated.

“Can't.” He texted back quickly.

Another message appeared almost instantly.

“Are u with someone else?”

“Yes.” Noel hit send and stuffed his phone into his jacket pocket. Noel shivered slightly as the hot summer breeze began to cool around him.

“Look, the stars are coming up already!” She called excitedly as she looked up at the universe in awe.

“You’re going to have to show me all these constellations one day,” Noel replied as he slung his arm over Alaska’s shoulder, “How’s next weekend?”

~

“It was right after the divorce with your father…It was a really lonely time for me,” Ms.Vandoren said, looking down at her manicured hands.



“That doesn’t mean you go sleeping with my friends! How do you think I felt? Did you ever stop to thinking about that?” Luca roared as as his grip around the stair railing tightened.

“Luca…” she began as her eyes welled with tears.

“That doesn’t explain why the detective was looking for ME and not YOU!” Luca yelled. He pointed his finger at his mother as he spit out the last word.

“There’s more…” Blair started as she inhaled raggedly.

~

[Two Years Ago]

Noel walked beside Alaska as they headed towards her house. They occasionally bumped shoulders during their short promenade from the quaint restuarant. He lingered as they reached the intersection before her house.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you all the way?” Noel asked as he looked around at the empty neighbourhood.

“Noel, there’s neighbourhood watch and my house is right there. I just don’t want my dad seeing us,” Alaska said. She leaned in and quickly kissed Noel on the cheek.



“Goodnight, Alaska.” Noel said. He gazed as Alaska’s unique features became more pronounced under the illumination of the moonlight.

“Goodnight, Monkey.” Alaska replied, smiling cheekily. She turned back and waved once more before disappearing into the night.

~

“I had them followed by those private contractors that used to work for your dad…”

“Mom, what did you do?” Luca asked with a ghostly expression on his face.

“I found out that Noel was avoiding me for some high school girl and I was furious,” Blair continued, “I let the contractors do what they wanted with her and I paid them off.”

Luca’s bottom lip trembled as he stared at his mother, “Y-you are a sorry excuse for a human being.”



“I’m not proud of the things I’ve done, Luca. I’m going to try and fix things.”

“IT’S TOO LATE FOR THAT, DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?” Luca screamed, he fell to the floor with his head in his hands.

“With or without your approval, I’ll be going to Detective Lahey’s office tomorrow. I’m going to confess.”