Reckless （adj.） – Liam
RECKLESS (ADJ.):
IN BOTH NEGLIGENCE AND CRIMINAL CASES, CARELESS TO THE POINT OF BEING HEEDLESS OF THE CONSEQUENCES.
LIAM
“There’s no precedent for this, and no amount of foreshadowing could’ve ever prepared me for this story…”
Iplaced a digital bookmark in my fifteenth long-form article by “Olivia S.” Much to my regret, I’d followed up on her threat about being an investigative reporter and discovered she wasn’t lying.
She’d penned a novel’s worth of articles for The Wall Street Journal, and each one was more biting and intensely written than the one published before it.
Yet, for some odd reason, she wasn’t listed as a former staffer on the website. No picture of her appeared next to her work, and every article came with a “Warning: This article was formerly published under journalist standards that we have now changed.”
Hmmm…
Alas, if this woman had put as much care into her driving as her writing, she’d be the poster child for a safe driver.
I vowed to stop reading her words after three more articles, and then try again to pretend like she never existed.
Shaking away the thought of her, I opened my windows to check the weather.
Clouds clogged the sky, allowing the sun to peek through the gaps.
So, it’s going to be a decent and easy day in court.
I grabbed my briefcase, texted Mara that I was on my way, and took the elevator down to the lobby.
“Good morning, Mr. Ashton.” The bellman tipped his hat at me.
Seconds later, my favorite valet pulled up in an Audi and motioned for me to get behind the wheel.
“This isn’t my car, Chris.”
“I know, sir.” He looked away from me. “Would you like to drive the building’s complimentary house vehicle today?”
“No,” I said. “I would like to drive one of my cars, like I do every day. Bring me the Ferrari.”
“You have an Audi R8 in a detail shop across town, correct?” he asked. “Allow me to call and see if they’re finished with that one.”
“I said, Bring me the Ferrari.” I assumed he was having a busy morning. “I can take the McLaren if you parked it closer.”
“No, it’s um…” He ran a hand through his hair. “Both of those cars are unavailable right now.”
“I see.” I glanced at my watch. “Well, I’ll wait until you move the cars you parked around mine.”
“Sir, your cars are not drivable at all right now. No one can drive them.”
“Okay, look Chris. I’m not sure what type of game you’re playing this morning, but—”
“Your vehicles were vandalized, sir.”
What? “Show me…”
“Okay.” He opened the passenger door and drove me around the block to the secondary lot.
Rows of luxury cars gleamed under the sunlight, and I was beginning to think this was all some type of birthday ruse.
Then again, my birthday wasn’t for another three months…
I considered if there were any other resident celebrations coming up, but then I spotted a swarm of men in security jackets.
Unable to see what was behind them, I stepped out and felt my eyes widening as the scene came into view.
What the FUCK?
My Ferrari and McLaren sat side by side in a sea of broken glass. Every window was shattered and their leather interiors were drenched from last night’s rain.
“What the hell happened here?” I asked. “Why are my cars the only ones damaged?”
“I believe you were targeted, sir,” one of the men said to me. “We’re collecting evidence and taking as many pictures as we can.”
“Do you plan to call the police?”
“They’re on their way, sir.”
I glanced at the deep scratch on the hood of my Ferrari and seethed.
“Did anyone see who did this?” I asked.
“We don’t know yet, sir.”
“Surely the security cameras on the building were working?”
“Actually…They uh—” He stammered. “They glitched and went out a little bit before last night’s storm.”
How convenient…
“Someone had to have seen something.” I moved closer to my McLaren. I looked inside and saw that my glovebox was still locked and that my center console still had a spare wallet with two hundred dollars worth of twenties.
So they didn’t steal anything?
I checked my Ferrari and saw the same thing.
All damage. No theft.
Not that that made this shit any better.
“Mr. Ashton, we’ll be sure to submit all the claims before noon.” Another guard moved toward me. “The building will cover everything, of course, but you obviously won’t be able to drive these for a while.”
Obviously.
“I have a dashboard camera system for the Ferrari,” I said. “I’ll have my assistant log in when I get to court and forward it to you. Be sure to give it to the police.”
“Yes, sir.”
I walked away and returned to the car with Chris.
“I’ll take the house Audi,” I said.
“Very well, sir.” He pulled away. “On the plus side, whoever did this is going to regret ever messing with a judge, huh?”
Like you wouldn’t fucking believe…
The moment I arrived at my chambers, I opened my laptop and logged into my Ferrari app.
I’d wanted to do it via my phone, but I wanted a large, full-screen view, and I wanted to send the highest quality copies.
Not knowing exactly what hour the criminal had damaged my cars, I rewound the footage from the moment security showed up back toward the storm.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
After getting past midnight, I was beginning to wonder if a ghost had done it.
But then a black hoodie appeared.
I hit pause and zoomed in before rewinding a bit further and hitting play.
A crowbar connected with my glass.
Then the criminal looked up.
Wind blew a few strands of dark hair from beneath the hood, revealing familiar hazel eyes and a mouth I'd spent far too much time noticing in court.
Olivia?
I hit pause, staring in utter fucking disbelief.
There’s no way this woman has the audacity to try me…
There was also no way this was the same woman whose work I'd been reading—or the same woman I'd nearly considered giving a break.
But as I leaned in closer, the truth became clearer.
It was definitely her.
Half pissed, half aroused, I let it play.
“Take that, motherfucker!” She swung her weapon like a madwoman, her chest heaving up and down with every swing.
When she was finished with her damage, she unknowingly pointed her finger right at my camera.
“Be grateful for my leniency, asshole…”
Her face paled, as if she just realized what she’d done, and she turned around and ran away.
I took a deep breath and watched the sequence one more time before calling my building’s security.
“This is Bryan,” he answered on the first ring. “How may I assist you?”
“It’s me, Bryan.”
“I was just about to call you, sir,” he said. “The police were able to access some nearby cameras, but they’re all grainy. Have you accessed the ones on your car yet?”
“No, actually…” I glanced at the freeze frame. “My system glitched as well, and the footage is all blank.”
“Are you sure?” he asked. “Those cameras are typically military-grade.”
“One hundred percent, sure,” I said. “They didn’t catch anything.”
He sighed. “Sorry, sir. Well, no matter what, we’ll handle it.”
No, I will. “Thank you.”
I ended the call and scrolled down to the officer who personally handled all my vehicle requests.
“Yes, Judge Ashton?” he answered on the first ring.
“Have you started your appointments for the day?”
“No, sir. I’m about twenty minutes out from the first one.” He paused. “A Miss Olivia Spencer.”
Perfect. “I need you to place two extra restrictions on her file for me. Put the speeding lock device on its most restrictive setting, and I want her placed on the random drug and alcohol testing list.”
“Uh…I didn’t see that in your original court order,” he said. “I just see the—”
“Just do it.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Thank you.” I ended the call and watched the surveillance video one last time before court.
Since she wants to fuck around, I’m about to let her find out…