Chapter 12 - Nighttime SabotageThree days later, my phone buzzed at 2:14 AM.
I groaned, rolling over in my silk sheets, and grabbed the device from the nightstand. It was an alert from the advanced perimeter security system I had installed at the commercial site. Apex Development didn't cut corners on security, especially not when we were holding millions of dollars in equipment on an open lot.
I tapped the notification, bringing up the live, high-definition night-vision feed on my screen.
A figure was climbing over the chain-link fence at the rear of the property. He was wearing a dark hoodie, but the way he moved—clumsy, desperate, uncoordinated—was instantly recognizable.
Jason.
I sat up, wide awake now, pouring myself a glass of water from the carafe beside my bed. I didn't call the police. Not yet. I wanted to see exactly how stupid he was willing to be.
Through the camera feed, I watched him creep toward the heavy machinery. He pulled something from his backpack—a large, heavy canister. He was heading straight for the massive fuel tanks that powered the excavators and backup generators. If he poured sugar or bleach into those tanks, it would cause hundreds of thousands of dollars in mechanical damage and set our framing schedule back by weeks.
You always were a coward, Jason, I thought, taking a slow sip of water. When you can't build your own success, you try to tear down someone else's.
I pressed a button on the app, switching to the two-way audio system rigged across the site.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Jason."
My voice boomed across the empty, dark construction lot through the high-powered PA speakers. On the screen, Jason jumped so violently he dropped the canister. It hit the dirt with a heavy thud, spilling whatever corrosive liquid he had brought.
He whipped his head around, staring wildly into the darkness, unable to locate the source of my voice.
"You are currently trespassing on private property," my voice echoed, smooth and unbothered, while I sat comfortably in my penthouse miles away. "You are captured on six different 4K cameras. And I have just dispatched private security and the local authorities."
"Megan!" he screamed into the night, looking like a cornered rat. "You ruined my life! You ruined my mother's life! You took everything from me!"
"You did that to yourself," I replied, pressing the button one last time. "Run, Jason. The sirens are three minutes away."
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I watched on the screen as he scrambled back toward the fence, tearing his jeans and scraping his hands on the metal mesh in his panic to escape. He barely made it into his rusted truck before the flashing red and blue lights of the police cruisers rounded the corner.
I smiled, locked my phone, and went back to sleep.
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