Pouring Out Your Emotions

After their fancy dinner date, Christina Macallen and Wallace Eckart are at the parking lot of the restaurant in Wallace’s van, engaged in a passionate kiss in the most private and intimate moment. Not once has Christina called the house, so she must trust Lance and the kids to be on their best behavior. After a while of making out, Christina catches her breath as she sits back up in her seat. “I had a splendid time tonight.” She smiles at Wallace.

“So did I, Chrissy.” Wallace smiles back, revealing his glamorous Hollywood-white teeth. He sits up in his seat as well. “So, are you ready to head back now, or…”

Christina chuckles. “I think we should have a little more time to settle down and talk before we can leave. I have a habit of waiting for the food I’ve eaten to fully digest before I can do anything else.”

“Really?” He gives her an amazed look. “Funny, that’s exactly how I often feel on Thanksgiving and Christmas. You get so stuffed from all the food, you just want to sit back and relax for a while before you can think about doing anything else. Well, okay… In that case, let’s chat for another 15 minutes. How does that sound?”

“Sounds great.” She gives him a thumbs-up.

“So, what’s on your mind?”

Christina sighs as she thinks about Clarence. “Well, it’s been a while since I’ve gone out on a date like this. It kind of brought back some memories of Clarence and me, before and after the kids were born. He and I would make lunch dates with each other during our respective lunch breaks at work, and…” She sighs again, poignantly. “Now it’s all done and over with for good, now that he’s gone.”

Wallace holds her hand. “I’m so sorry, Christina. Sometimes I feel the same way about Natalie. The kids and I are learning to cope one step at a time, one day at a time. I know it’s only been seven months since we’ve lost her, but still…”

“You never really get over it, do you?”

Wallace shakes his head. “No, of course not. But thank God for our kids to keep us in balance. Without them, I think that you and I would have our own ways of falling apart completely.”

“That’s true.” Christina nods in agreement.

After a moment of silence, she clears her throat before preparing herself to bring up the undesirable subject with Wallace. “I have to tell you something, if you don’t mind.”

“O-kay.” Wallace gives her a look of concern and intrigue. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, of course… It’s actually about one of my kids, Lance.”

“Oh.” Wallace smiles. “He and his siblings and cousins seemed like nice kids. You and your sister and brother-in-law have done amazing jobs with them.”

“I’m flattered.” Christina feels herself blushing a little. “And yes, they are generally well-behaved, especially Lance. But lately, I have to tell you something about Lance that’s a little… How do I put this, troubling.”

Wallace looks concerned again. “Okay… Is he okay? Is he in any trouble? You’ve mentioned before that he’s the troubled one. Did he do something…”

“Y-yes.” Christina nods, taking a deep breath as she tries to come up with a way to explain all this to Wallace without dumping too much information on him after their very special date night. “Well, no… I mean, it’s kind of hard to explain; I don’t want to risk scaring you off.”

Wallace chuckles. “Christina, come on. How long have we known each other, when we first met at the park and you and I opened up to each other like magazines about our personal lives, our families? I’m sure that whatever you’re about to tell me won’t scare me.”

Christina clears her throat before she says, “Well, it kind of has to do with that missing girl, Kaitlynn Westergart.”

For a moment, Wallace is speechless, as if he’s forming his own conclusion in his mind. “Wait… What are you trying to say, Christina? Did Lance have something to do with that missing woman?”

“Hmm-hmm.” Christina nods, a little ashamed to say it aloud. “But not directly, you know. He was…” She clears her throat again to contain her nerves. “Lance was coerced into covering up Kaitlynn’s murder. She was killed by her boyfriend, Vincent Rousseau. He somehow approached Lance that night and asked him to help him get rid of Kaitlynn’s body. Whew,” she adds, mostly to herself, amazed by how quickly all that information has slipped out of her mouth. Now she’s worried that she has scared Wallace off.

Wallace looks surprised, still taking time to process everything he just heard. “Okay, slow down, Christina. So, are you trying to say that you and Lance have important information about what happened to Kaitlynn, and you’re both staying silent about this?” He takes a deep breath to keep himself calm as well. “Okay… Why don’t you just start from the very beginning? Is there any evidence that ties Vincent Rousseau to the crime? And what was Lance’s role in it, exactly? I need to know. And take your time and explain everything as best as you can. I’m not gonna judge you.”

“Okay.” Christina lets out another breath before she can tell Wallace everything that Lance and Seth have told her, word-for-word, about Vincent’s major involvement in “accidentally” killing Kaitlynn and how he talked Lance into helping him cover it up. She makes it clear to Wallace that Vincent had bribed Lance into serving as his accessory after the fact and Lance has been traumatized since that evening. She emphasizes that Lance didn’t even know Kaitlynn personally, but he and Seth are closely associated with Jessa.

After Christina explains everything to Wallace in full, vivid details, Wallace takes a minute or two to process all that he’s just heard. With an understanding smile, he says, “Thank you so much for telling me all this, Christina. I’m so sorry that you and your family are going through this, especially Lance.” He shakes his head. “Vincent Rousseau is… Jesus Christ, what’s the word that I should use to describe this guy perfectly?”

“Scum of the Earth?” Christina smiles.

Wallace nods in agreement. “Close enough, but I suppose we’ll go with that description for now.” They chuckle. “But on a serious note, though, Christina… My heart breaks for you and Lance, especially Lance. This is not okay. How does a 24-year-old solicit an underage boy into covering up a brutal murder? It’s one thing to call what he did to Kaitlynn an ‘accident’; getting a child involved is not okay. Florida’s laws are very strict about murder solicitations. Vincent is going to face a very lengthy sentence because he’s the main culprit.” He sighs. “I hate what this must mean for Lance, too. He’s just a kid, you know.”

“A kid who’s been severely traumatized by everything to the point of being scared to open up to me at first.” Christina wipes a tear from her eye. “He thought that I’d accuse him of getting into trouble again while we’re here in Lake Haven. We came here for the sole purpose of putting Clarence’s murder behind us in New York. Never thought we’d get involved–indirectly–with another murder, a stranger who we’re not all that familiar with.”

“I know.” Wallace sighs. “Kaitlynn was a real pillar in her community, despite her personal relationship problems. She was such a bright light, from what I’ve heard. I didn’t know her personally, either. This isn’t fair what happened to her. She and her family deserve justice, and you and Lance have all the answers to what happened to her that night. Lance might not have been around when Kaitlynn and Vincent were alone at the beach, but when Vincent coerced him into covering up what he did, Lance sounds like a strong witness to Kaitlynn’s body being dumped in the garbage bag and dumpster. So, that’s one positive thing about this: Lance is a strong witness, even if it means his own credibility will come under fire, which is a negative. But just so we’re clear… He has true remorse for his own involvement, doesn’t he?”

“He does, yeah.” Christina nods. “He regrets it deeply. When we lost Clarence back in New York, it took him a while to stop blaming himself because he was always associated with the wrong crowd, the type of people who were responsible for Clarence’s murder. And now, we’re here in Lake Haven, and he’s blaming himself for what happened to Kaitlynn, even though he and Seth didn’t know her personally.”

“Yeah, I know that you and your family couldn’t have known Kaitlynn at all, so that’s one thing that needs to be proven in court.” Wallace is thinking about something, a little lost in thought. “I have a good friend from Florida State who works as a defense lawyer, and I know that he’ll be able to represent Lance to the best of his abilities. But before I can contact him… How do you know that Vincent’s version of events that night are true and accurate? Kaitlynn’s body has yet to be recovered, and the PD doesn’t have any real evidence of her death or any indication that she’s drowned. Is there something you can give me?”

“Oh, yes, of course. I actually have my recorder right here in my purse.” Christina opens up her purse and takes out her recorder. “So, here’s the thing: before you and I ran into each other at Lindsey Park the other time, I had actually been coming from Vincent’s place. That was what was actually on my mind that morning… Vincent’s confession about how he killed Kaitlynn at the beach, how he just happened to bump into Lance, getting him to cover up for him and all that… It’s all in here. Would you like to listen to it now, or…”

“How about we do it at my place instead?” Wallace suggests. “We can take our time to listen to the whole recording from beginning to end. How long did you record for?”

Christina chuckles. “To be honest, I haven’t really checked my recorder since. I’m not that skilled at using it to cut out certain parts that aren’t necessary… Such as me asking Vincent about his childhood.”

He gives her a warm smile. “Well, look at you, ever so compassionate enough to ask the town bully about his childhood. I wouldn’t say that’s an ‘unnecessary’ part, though. I’d still like to listen to it, and I want you to come over to my place so that we can go over it together. Did he implicate Lance at all?”

“Yeah, he did. He explained how he just ambushed Lance as Lance was leaving Jessa’s house that night. Didn’t give him much of a choice.” She sighs. “God, I can only imagine how my baby was feeling that night… In the presence of this creepy adult stranger who just killed his own girlfriend on her birthday. Gosh.” She shakes her head in disgust.

“Yeah, that’s awful. So, are you really open to spending time with me at my place so that we can go over the recording together? Or do you have to get back home to the kids? I’d totally understand if you need to head out and we can just pick up on this tomorrow morning or whatever time is most convenient for you. I’d hate to hold you up if you have other plans of your own for tonight, Christina. But I’m willing to help you out about Lance. That’s how much I care about you. I don’t want you to feel alone in this predicament, so…” He grins. “The least you can do is just let me help you. Please say yes,” he adds lightheartedly, and Christina laughs.

He asks, “What’s so funny?”

“I’m not that eager to get back home to Lance and the kids. I trust Lance and his brother to be fully responsible for the house while I’m out and their aunt and uncle are away for the weekend. Though I haven’t given them a call yet… Do you mind if I just do that quickly?”

Wallace gives her an amazed look. “Chrissy, why are you asking me for permission to contact your kids? You know you’re welcome to do that!”

Christina chuckles nervously. “Sorry, just an instinct thing.” She takes out her phone and dials the household number. As promised, Lance answers, and they are engaged in a sweet mother-son discussion. She knows that Lance and the others have stayed in the house to watch a movie, have some snacks, and what have you. There’s nothing for her to indicate that they might have thrown a party in her absence or anything of that nature.

Then she tells Lance that she will spend the night at Wallace’s, going over her recording of Vincent’s confession so that they can omit the part where Vincent has incriminated Lance as his accomplice. Lance says he doesn’t mind, as long as the recording somehow proves that he is innocent of this whole incident as nothing more than a simple–and unfortunate–bystander. Then Christina and Lance end their conversation with “I love you”, “Good night, and sweet dreams.” Wallace smiles at her during her heartwarming conversation with Lance.

“What?” she asks with a smile.

“I think it’s very admirable, the way you love your children. I know they’re very lucky to still have you, even after their father’s passing.”

Christina sighs poignantly. “I know. I’ve always tried to be the rock for them. Can’t say it’s always been easy, but like I just said… I tried my best.”

“That’s really all you can do, at the end of the day.” Wallace starts the engine, gradually making his way out of the parking lot. They are en route to his place now.