Chapter 7 - Mark’s Desperate Retaliation
Desperate people do stupid things, and Mark was the most desperate man in Boise.
At 2:00 a.m. on Thursday, my phone's perimeter alarm triggered. The live feed showed a dark figure dressed in a hoodie trying to break the glass of my patio door using a crowbar.
It was Mark. Furious, broke, unemployed, and facing total ruin, he had come to destroy whatever he couldn't take.
What he didn't know was that Mr. Donovan’s high-security installation included reinforced shatterproof storm glass and instant silent telemetry linked directly to the county sheriff's department.
I didn't hide in the closet. I didn't scream. I walked down the hallway holding my phone, turning on the exterior floodlights.
The bright halogen bulbs illuminated Mark like a deer in headlights. He froze, crowbar raised, his face flushed with alcohol and fury.
"Open the door, Jessica!" he screamed through the thick glass, his voice muffled. "You ruined my life! You took my job, my reputation, my wife, my family! Give me my money!"
"You ruined your own life, Mark," I said calmly through the exterior intercom. "And you have about thirty seconds before the police arrive."
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Sirens echoed in the distance. Mark’s eyes went wide with panic. He dropped the crowbar and tried to run toward the side gate, but two police cruisers pulled directly onto my front lawn, spotlights cutting through the darkness.
Officers tackled Mark to the wet grass before he could even reach the fence. As they handcuffed him and shoved him into the back of the cruiser, I stood safely behind my reinforced door, watching the man who had called me "too cold" get carted away in shame.
