Vendetta

I'm in the middle of our Monday morning meeting when there's a knock on the meeting room door. Mr. Daniels pauses, "Come in." The door opens a few inches revealing June's black and gray updo. "I'm sorry Mr. Daniels. Victor there's a call for you, she says it's urgent."

I'm instantly on alert. She? The names run through my head. Mom? Veronica? Jade? Fuck, Melissa? I glance at my boss and he waves his hand, "Go ahead and get that. I think we're all cleared up with accounting."

"Thank you Sir." I quickly scoop up my notepad and pen then rush out the door, "June, please patch her through." June rushes towards her cubicle and I hurry to my office, which is on the other fucking side of the building. Dammit, why didn't I ask June who it was. I swear to god if it's Melissa, I'm going to flip my shit. I jog the last few steps and whip open the door, making sure to close it behind me. The little light is blinking on my line, picking up the phone, I take a deep breath before pressing the button.

"Victor speaking."

"Vic I am so sorry to call you at work, I tried your phone and I wasn't sure who else to call." Jade rushes out, her voice tremors like she's been crying.

"Jade..Jade..are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine but there's been an incident."

Before I even know what I'm doing, I grab my cell and keys ready to bolt. "What incident? Where are you?"

"I'm at the bar. My car is fucked, it's all fucked up."

"Did you call the police?"

"No, my mind went blank. I ran back into my apartment and called you."

"Okay. I'm leaving. When we hang up, call the police, I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"Alright. Thank you."

"It's gonna be fine." I reassure her, "I'll see you soon."

Her response is quiet and reluctantly put down the handset then I rush out to June, "I'm leaving. I probably won't be back!"

"I hope everything is alright!" June's voice carries down the hall as I run to the elevator.

I make the fifteen minute drive in ten, breaking all kinds of traffic violations. Pulling into the bar lot and turning behind the building where Jade parks. "Fuck!" I hiss out at the sight of her Civic. There's no doubt in my mind who did this. The word 'Whore' is painted across the whole driver's side in white. I exit my car and take in the damage. The tires are flat, there's a nasty dent in the fender, and scratches in swirls all over.

The metal door opens and my gaze whips over to Jade, who looks disheveled. She rushes over and I catch her in an embrace. "Tell me what happened!" I demand. I'm fucking angry but right now, I know she needs comfort. This is a huge low blow. An expensive blow.

"I don't know!" she pulls away, "I came out to leave for school and found this..." she gestures to her destroyed car.

"Fuck. Okay. You called the police?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Does the bar have cameras back here?"

"Yeah."

"Good. That's good. So whoever did this, we have proof. You didn't hear anything last night?"

Her head shakes back and forth.

"Do you need to go to school then?"

Her hands cover her face and then move away, a stress move. "There's no way I'll be able to focus."

This sucks so bad. I move forward and wrap her into an embrace, it's probably not the best time to notice how perfectly she fits. "I'm so sorry Jade." I feel her hands grasp the back of my shirt, hugging me tighter. "We're gonna figure this out. The insurance will take care of the damage and I happen to know a fantastic auto body shop."

This earns a small laugh from her. The crunching of gravel pulls both of our attention towards the police cruiser driving our way. "Thank goodness they didn't take forever." I mutter.

"I doubt there's much going on around here, other than street racers and rowdy frat parties." Jade mumbles into my chest. It's true, our small town is fairly quiet and not much happens. Our local police department is small, and consists of maybe four or five officers. State police aren't too far away when needed for a bigger crisis.

Jade and I separate slightly but both of our arms remain around each other in some way. The officer parks behind both of our cars, blocking us in, not that the Civic is going anywhere. He takes a few seconds before getting out and then moves to greet us, "Morning guys. I'm officer Mowry. Is anyone hurt?"

"No." I answer but he looks to Jade for confirmation, like I'm the one who did this.

"I'm fine, just my car."

He removes a small pad from his breast pocket and clicks his pen, "Alright, did you leave it here overnight?"

"Yeah, I live upstairs." Jade points up towards her apartment.

"Oh okay, you didn't hear anything?"

"No, my bedroom is on the opposite side but I slept like the dead last night."

"Did you have a fight with anyone recently? Or do anything to cause someone to harm your vehicle?"

"I work in a bar, I'm sure I pissed someone off almost daily." she laughs off.

I clear my throat, "My ex."

He looks at me, "Your ex?"

"Yes sir. She came in yesterday and told Jade that she should watch her back."

"What's your ex's name?"

"Melissa Russo, her maiden name is Brenton."

He writes in his pad, I assume the information I gave him, then looks at Jade, "Ma'am would you like to file a report."

"Would it help anything?"

"Well if you're having issues with his ex and something occurs again, yes. You'll need it for your insurance claim as well."

"Okay. Then yes, I'd like to file a report."

"Does the bar have any security cameras out back here?"

"Yes."

"Do you have access to those?"

"Yes."

After reviewing the security footage, I'm left disappointed. It's grainy and not the best quality. Drew seriously needs to invest in a better security system. The person, who we assume is a male by the broad shoulders, is dressed in all black including a ski mask. There's nothing to go on which is deflating because I was positive that it was Melissa. But it would make sense, Melissa wouldn't get her hands dirty, figuratively and literally.

"I'll take this down to the station and have someone analyze it better but I'll be honest...there's not much to go on, we may never catch who did this. I'll take some pictures as well. You may want to contact your insurance company as soon as possible and think about staying somewhere else for a few days."

"Really?"

"It's just a suggestion, whoever did this seems to have quite the vendetta, it's probably for the best or at least have someone come stay with you."

"Okay. Thank you Officer."

"Sure. I'm sorry this happened, here's my card if you think of anything else. Be aware of your surroundings and stay safe." He holds out a small white business card to Jade, which she takes and tucks it into her back pocket then he leaves us in the office. Jade sags into the black swivel chair in front of the large screen broadcasting the security feed. On the screen, the officer exits the back of the bar and proceeds to his car then back to Jade's holding a camera. We both watch him work in silence as he takes pictures of her vandalized car. I don't even know if the passenger side is a mess but I watch him as he snaps pictures of it. When he finishes and returns to his car, Jade remains idly staring.

"Drew needs to invest in some better cameras." I point out.

Jade swivels to face me and lets out a loud sigh.

"You need to tell him about this."

"I know. I need to do a lot." She scrubs her face with her hand, a sign of distress, then looks at me. "Thank you so much for coming, I don't want to keep you. Go back to work."

"Don't worry about that, I'm here for you."

She gives me a weak smile, "I don't even know where to start. I need to call Drew or Zara and see if I can stay with them for a few days. I gotta call my insurance, that's going to be a nightmare, then a tow truck, the shop." Her eyes begin to fill with unshed tears.

"You're gonna come stay with me." I tell her.

Her face scrunches in confusion, "What?"

"I had a bad feeling last night and I didn't listen to myself. This could have been so much worse. I need to know you're okay, and I'll feel better if you stay with me."

"Vic.." she begins to protest.

"Please?" I ask sincerely though if she fights me on it, I'm gonna throw her over my shoulders and toss her in my car.

"I don't wanna crash your bachelor pad lifestyle."

"You damn well know if I'm not at work or with my brothers, I'm with you. Shut up and let's go pack you a bag." When she doesn't move to get up, I round the desk and grab her hand, pulling her up. "Stop sulking. This sucks, I know but I'll be here to help you with whatever you need."

She takes a deep breath than face plants into my chest, "Thank you."

Without thinking I drop a kiss upon the crown of her head, it's something so small but so significant. Having Jade stay with me could be a disaster or it could be the best thing to ever happen. I guess only time will tell but I pray it's the latter.

ALERT! CRAZY EX STATUS! We all know that Melissa is behind this don't we? Or is she? :::DUN DUN DUN:::

As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave me your thoughts. Don't forget to vote!

I did not get much writing done the last few days, and I may not this week either but I am going to try to get some written these next two days. I am working all weekend so be aware there may not be a update for a bit. Next weekend I will be going out of town, so another weekend of no writing.

How much is left of the story? I'm not 100% sure. I am aiming for at least 50k-60k words and right now I'm at 35k. But this is also a draft, so the bones are being set in place right now, the meat will be more in the published version.

I've gotten a lot of comments about when Jade and Vic will get together. My plan for this story was ALWAYS to be a slow burn. You can understand Vic's hesitation after Melissa and then not wanting to lose Jade as a friend. Hang on my friends.

Thank you for reading! Thank you for your support. You mean more than you know!