Chapter 6

The booking officer gave me the box of my stuff, and I went thru it. Everything was fortunately there. With my phone back on, my wallet and passport in my pockets, and my watch securely strapped on, I felt semi normal. I could feel the doorway guard nearby, so I looked around. He was average and nondescript, but I’d recognize him now, even without my power.

I reached out and gave him a big kidney stone, and a full bladder. That would eliminate him as a worry for a few days. I turned to Reyes, “Are you willing to go back to my apartment and see the mess, and help me catalog if anything is missing?”

“Why not?” she said sarcastically, “My Sunday is already ruined.”

“Thomas, George, I take it Nora is paying for your time?”

They grinned, “Very much so,” George said.

I wasn’t going to ask the price of two high priced lawyers coming to the police station on a Sunday morning. I think it might have made me angrier. “Alright, let’s see about transportation. Do you have a vehicle?”

“We carpooled,” Thomas said.

“Room for two more?” I asked.

“Of course,” George replied, leading us out to the street where he unlocked a big black sedan, and climbed into the driver’s seat. Thomas took shotgun, and Reyes and I climbed into the back. I gave George the address, which he already had, we buckled up and drove off.

I turned to Reyes, “Ms Reyes, would you prefer I call you ADA Reyes, or do you perhaps have a first name?”

“Call me Amanda,” she said smiling for the first time.

I reached out to shake her hand, “Amanda, it’s a pleasure to have your company, please call me Adam.”

We arrived to find my front door broken off its hinges, but set leaning in place. There was no apparent officer guarding the property. I turned to Amanda, “Can you record video on your phone?”

She blinked at me for a moment, then nodded, “Of course.”

She started filming the outside of the property, helpfully adding commentary stating who she was, the day and time, and the names of myself and the lawyers. Thomas and I wrestled the door away after calling out to see if anyone was inside.

The place was trashed, furniture turned over, carpets ripped up, walls broken, cabinetry pulled away from the wall. It was a mess. The TV was pulled off the wall and laying broken in a corner where it had presumably been thrown. Thomas and George were a little stunned by the destruction. “Thomas, would you mind reserving a room in a really nice hotel for me? Don’t say where, we don’t know what was left behind. Just step out, and reserve it from in the car, please.” I requested.

He agreed, and stepped outside. George fumbled the keyfob and unlocked the car for him. We moved onto the bathroom, minor destruction only, but I’d have to replace the mirror. The office was worse, my new desk was shattered, leaving a layer of broken glass shards like snow on the ground. There was no sign of my laptop, or my tablet and it’s charger.

I turned to the camera, “My laptop is missing, as is my tablet. I don’t see anything else, but I hadn’t really explored this room yet, I’m not sure what else my dad had.” It was obvious he had papers, every metal filing cabinet had been emptied onto the floor. Then they had been dumped into the middle of the room and the carpets pulled up. The drapes were pulled down, the screws pulled out with the rods, laying under the piled cabinets.

In the bedroom, everything was piled on the bed. The dresser, every piece of clothing from the closet, the broken dresser mirror, the shoes, and the chunks of cut up carpet. I headed back out to the kitchen, going through a small door, there was a laundry room. The small stacked washer dryer combo was pulled from the wall, but otherwise the room was relatively empty. The door to the back yard was open, but the washer was sitting blocking it from being used.

I pushed the washer back into position, noting that the dryer hose had disconnected. I stepped out into the back yard and looked around. The fire barrel was sitting in a corner, I grabbed it and pulled it into the middle of the yard. Thomas was back, and with his and George’s help we moved the dresser back off the bed. It was a nice big heavy all wood thing.

Carefully picking up the broken glass from the mirror, we set it aside. Amanda filmed all of this, as we worked. I gave my clothes to George, and he went and dumped them into the trunk of his car. “Where is your luggage?” Amanda asked.

I looked around, “Add that to the list of missing items, I guess.” I used a reusable shopping bag to stuff my underwear and other items from the dresser into, and George carried that out also.

When we got to the women’s clothes, I started pulling them off hangers, piling them up on the bed. When they were all free, I gathered them up and carried them to the burn barrel in the backyard. Amanda followed me out.

After dumping them in the burn barrel, I told Amanda, “keep filming, I’ll be right back,” then ducked back into the house. I came back a moment later with a bottle of conjured vodka, and a box of matches from a neighbor’s junk drawer.

I poured the alcohol onto the clothes, lit a match and stepped back while I tossed it into the burn barrel. With a whoosh it ignited. The extra conjure of cubane into the barrel accelerated it. The clothes burned down to a sticky black mess in less than 10 minutes.

Thomas and George stood around the burn barrel with me, watching it burn. “I called a repairman to fix or replace the door, and to change all the locks on the apartment. Security from a local company is sending someone over to stand guard until it’s secure again,” Thomas said.

“Excellent, as soon as I’m sure this is going to burn out, we can go,” I turned to Amanda, “I think we can stop filming now.”

“I’d like a copy of that video,” Thomas said.