Nothing else was touched, I said. Tools, bikes, everything else is still here. He crouched by the tire marks. This is personal. Someone wanted to hurt you, not rob you.
I already know who I said. Handing him my phone. Security footage. He watched in silence. When the hammer came down for the fifth time, his expression hardened.
"That's about as clear-cut as it gets." He looked at me. "You want to press charges?" "Absolutely." He nodded. "Let's make it official. But first, mind if we have a little fun?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Sometimes people dig their own graves faster when they don't know who's listening," he said, holding up his recorder. "Let's call her together." I dialed Karen's number and hit speaker. It rang twice before her voice answered, clipped and defensive. "What do you want, John?" "Someone destroyed my car this weekend while I was out of town," I said evenly.
"Do you know anything about it?" Pause. Static. Then why would I know anything about your stupid car? You've been complaining about it for weeks, I said. And I've got security footage of someone who looks exactly like you.
Her tone snapped. Good. I'm glad someone finally did something about that ridiculous show-off machine. You think you're special, don't you? Flashing your money around while the rest of us work honest jobs.
"You're just a broken-down soldier living off pity checks." Willow mouthed for me to keep her talking. I took a slow breath. "Karen, are you saying you destroyed my car?" "Damn right I did. Every night I had to look at that thing and remember youβsome washed-up vet acting like he's better than everyone else."
I earned what I have. You, Willow, cut in smoothly. Ma'am, this is Officer Willow with the city police. You just confessed to felony vandalism. Well be at your residence shortly.
There was a sharp gasp, a clatter, and the line went dead. He looked at me. "You mind if we stop by together. Lead the way." 20 minutes later, the cul-de-sac glowed red and blue again. Karen was standing on her porch, pale and trembling phone in one hand, sledgehammer leaning against the railing like a bad prop.
When the officers cuffed her, she screamed about injustice, about veterans being violent freeloaders, and about how it was not fair that I had a luxury car while she worked a real job. I just stood there, arms crossed, watching her melt down. Neighbors peeked from behind curtains. Tom came out, his face grave. Sarah whispered, "Oh my God." Karen caught sight of me and shrieked, "You ruined my life!" I didn't answer.
I didn't need to. As the patrol car pulled away, her voice echoed down the street. "This isn't over!" Willow turned to me. "She's not getting out of this one. Felony property damage. Open-and-shut case."