Chapter 3

That night, I couldn't sleep. I kept checking the camera feeds on my phone.

Around 2 AM, motion alerts. Both cameras.

I watched, heart pounding.

A figure, shorter, older than Kevin, was approaching my car. It was his father, Frank.

He had something in his hand.

He ran it along the passenger side of my car. Another scratch.

Then he moved to the back, and with a sickening crunch, he smashed one of my taillights.

I had him. Clear as day.

The elevator security footage, which the HOA miraculously found after I mentioned my own recordings, showed Frank coming down, then going back up, looking shifty.

The next morning, I didn't bother with the HOA. I called the police directly.

I also posted the video from my pillar camera to the Nextdoor group.

"Update on the parking dispute: Vandalism Part 2, caught on camera. This is Frank, Kevin's father, damaging my car last night."

The comments exploded.

When the police arrived, I showed them my footage.

They went to Kevin's unit. Sarah and I followed, staying at a distance.

We could hear Kevin's voice, loud and angry.

"My father? He wouldn't do that! He's over seventy! He has serious health conditions!"

The officers brought Frank out. He looked pale.

Suddenly, Frank gasped, clutched his chest, and started to crumple. "My heart! I'm having an attack!"

Carol rushed out, screaming. "He's dying! You've killed him!"

It was pure theater.

During the chaos, as paramedics were being called, Carol, holding a half-eaten sandwich, suddenly threw it. It hit one of the officers in the face.

I had my phone out, recording everything.

Kevin saw me. He lunged, snatched my phone, and smashed it on the concrete floor.

"Stop filming my family, you psycho!"

That was it for the officers.

"You're all under arrest," one of them said, his voice like ice.

Frank suddenly looked much better. Carol was still shrieking. Kevin was just staring at my shattered phone, then at the handcuffs.

They took all three of them away.

The satisfaction was immense, but looking at my destroyed phone, I knew this was escalating far beyond a parking spot.