“I’m watching them.”
“Good. Preserve everything.”
The police arrived nine minutes later, but my family had already fled through the rear loading bay.
They left behind nearly two hundred thousand dollars in visible damage, ruined ingredients for three weekend events, smashed refrigeration controls, broken plumbing fixtures, and a handwritten note taped to my office door.
NOW YOU HAVE NOTHING TO SELL.
The detective photographed it twice.
By sunrise, Mom was calling me.
“You should have listened,” she said.
“You broke into my business.”
“Don’t be dramatic. Your father and I
