Silent Harbour

Chapter 13: Thick As Thieves

Growing up, my mom insisted that the quality of sleep from the night before had the power to predict the trajectory of the day ahead. No surprise to anyone, I disregarded her notion anytime she'd bring it up. It pains me to admit it, so many years later, but she might have been onto something.

The fear of accidentally missing my alarm and oversleeping led to a handful of interruptions to my sleep last night. Collectively, I probably totalled a good 3.5 hours of sleep–which would've been sufficient during my university years, but at the ripe old age of 31, had me wishing the coffeemaker was within arms reach.

8:04am. Finally giving up on my plans to sleep and rejuvenate before my meeting, I get out of bed and head to the kitchen to find something to eat. The contents of the fridge leave much room for desire, but I settle on some scrambled eggs and toast. As the aroma of eggs and oregano fills the air, my mind turns to the lingering apprehensiveness that had plagued my sleep in anticipation of the day ahead.

I can't shake the feeling that I'm somehow making a mistake by agreeing to a meeting with Tommy. As it is, I'm already strapped for time with the closing of the sale contingent on fixing up the house. The last thing I need is to invite potential drama into the mix, a risk inherent to doing business with people you wished would stay in your past. Though I pride myself on being able to discern honesty from duplicity, I prefer to avoid confrontation at all costs, especially with Tommy.

Meeting with Tommy is a wild card. We didn't necessarily part ways on the worst of terms, but the abrupt end to our friendship still begged for some much needed closure. Unfortunately, since Erin decided it would be best if she tagged along for this meeting, today doesn't really offer the right setting for said heart-to-heart conversation.

Erin. As if matters weren't complicated enough beforehand. During the entire course of my friendship with Tommy, I never did iron out the detailings of Erin and Tommy's relationship. If I were to wager a guess, I'd say that most of what I know is just town gossip and completely speculative.

I set those thoughts aside as I devour the contents of my breakfast plate and pour myself a glass of milk, which I down in four swift gulps. I still have a half hour before I'm expecting Tommy and Erin so I retreat to my room and open my laptop. 1360 Maplewood Blvd, Cedar Creek. I type the address into the search bar. I've lost count of the number of times I've reviewed the purchase agreement and transfer of ownership. At this point, I've committed the address to memory.

18th Century Heritage Home.

I pull up a satellite image of the house and zoom into the street view.

It's a quaint country house–Colonial era–complete with a private garden. The estate is shrouded by tall hedges and a fieldstone border. Not a bad place to retire, I muse. Especially if privacy is what you're after. Elegant, unsuspecting. Hardly incriminating.

I spend what feels like just a few more minutes gathering information about the property. It had been previously owned by Eleanor and Leopold Reyes who owned a small bakery in town and had almost no digital footprint beyond a Facebook page for their business that hadn't been active since 2014. I do some more digging and find that their eldest daughter Natalie had inherited the business and her parents had moved down to Elliot Lake. Transfer of ownership had been enacted as of September 1st, but Arthur had stuck around town, evidently, perhaps to settle any unfinished business he had in Silent Harbour.

I'm jolted out of my thoughts by a sharp rap on the door. I hurry down the stairs and haven't reached the door when it swings open to reveal a flustered-looking Erin.

"Oh, hey you. Hope you don't mind that I let myself in," she mumbles distractedly. She pulls the door closed behind her and makes her way over to the kitchen table, setting her tote bag down on a chair.