Chapter 5 - The Sabotage Attempt
The Cease and Desist letters arrived at my parents' house on a Thursday. I knew this because my phone immediately began intercepting blocked calls, one after another, filling my voicemail inbox with screaming messages.
I didn't listen to them. I forwarded the audio files directly to Sarah Jenkins.
But Emily and Luke were not deterred by a piece of paper. Desperation was making them reckless.
On Friday evening, I walked to the local grocery store three blocks from my apartment. The evening air was humid, the streets bustling with weekend foot traffic. I was in the produce aisle, inspecting a carton of tomatoes, when I heard the squeak of rubber soles behind me.
"You think you're so smart, don't you?"
I turned. Luke was standing there, blocking the aisle. He looked disheveled. The smug confidence he had carried into my apartment a week ago was completely gone, replaced by dark circles under his eyes and a frantic energy.
"Luke. Step away from me," I said evenly, keeping my hands visible.
"Emily is crying every day because of you," he hissed, stepping closer. People in the aisle were beginning to stare. "Your parents told us we had to start paying them rent because you won't let us stay at your place. We can't afford it, Daniel. We have debt."
"That is not my problem," I said, picking up my basket.
"It is your problem!" Luke shouted, suddenly lunging forward and slapping the basket out of my hand. Tomatoes rolled across the linoleum floor.
A woman nearby gasped and hurried away.
I didn't flinch. I just stared at him.
"Are you going to hit me, Luke?" I asked, my voice dangerously calm. "In front of a dozen witnesses and security cameras? Because if you do, the Cease and Desist turns into a restraining order, and you go to jail for assault."
Luke's fists were clenched, trembling with adrenaline. He looked like he wanted to swing, but the mention of jail made his eyes dart toward the ceiling cameras.
"You're a selfish piece of garbage," he spat.
"I worked eighty-hour weeks and slept in a parking lot to get what I have," I replied. "You and Emily want a free ride on my back. Go get a second job, Luke. Stop begging your younger brother-in-law for a bedroom."
I turned my back on him and walked toward the front of the store to find an employee to clean up the tomatoes.
When I looked back, Luke was gone.
That night, my building's fire alarm went off at 2:00 AM.
The piercing sirens forced the entire complex out into the street. I stood on the sidewalk in my sweatpants, shivering in the cool night air, watching the fire trucks arrive.
Marla found me in the crowd about an hour later. She looked exhausted and furious.
"It was a false alarm," she said, holding up a broken piece of red plastic. "Someone pulled the manual lever in the alleyway behind the building. The cameras caught a guy in a hoodie running away, but he kept his face covered."
She looked at me pointedly. "You wouldn't happen to know anyone desperate enough to pull a stunt like this to harass a resident, would you?"
I closed my eyes, running a hand over my face. It was Luke. It had to be.
May you like
"I'll have my lawyer send you a name in the morning," I said quietly.
"Good," Marla replied. "Because the fire department fines the building two thousand dollars for false alarms, and I plan on passing that bill directly to whoever did this."
