Chapter 3
I sat on a bench at the police station for more than ten minutes before a young cop strolled over.
He gave me a quick once-over. "You the one who called it in?"
"Yeah," I replied.
"I'm Officer Mark Davis. Walk me through what happened."
I gave him the whole story.
He got the timeline: Karen's uninvited visit last night, the magically missing keys, and the security footage of Mike driving away with my RV.
Mark frowned as I finished.
"So, this Karen... She's your next-door neighbor?" he asked.
"Yeah," I replied.
"And her side of the story is that she's borrowing it?"
"Yeah, except she didn't have permission. I gave her a hard no."
"How exactly did you phrase that?"
"I shut them down three separate times. When she tried to invite her whole family on my road trip, I said no. Her husband asked to hitch a ride, and I shot that down.
"Her mother-in-law tried to guilt-trip me, and I made it clear that it was my property and I wasn't playing chauffeur."
Mark scribbled some notes on his clipboard.
He looked back up at me. "Look, why don't you head home? We can try getting a hold of Karen and have her bring the RV back."
"Already tried that," I countered. "Her phone goes straight to voicemail."
"Well, what if you two sit down and work this out civilly once she gets back from her trip?"
I stared at him. "Work it out civilly?"
"Since this is between neighbors, it's usually better to handle it privately," he said.
"The woman stole my camper. Her family of five packed their bags and sneaked off at two in the morning. How are you brushing off a crime as a simple neighbor dispute?"
Mark fell silent.
Reaching into my tote, I pulled out a manila folder. "Here is the bill of sale. Total cost is 120,000 dollars.
"And here are the printed screenshots from the HOA cameras. Timestamp is 2:13 AM, showing Karen's husband behind the wheel of my vehicle."
Next, I grabbed my phone and played the call recording for him.
Karen's voice came through. "Oh, chill out, Samantha. We're just borrowing your camper for a couple of days. Don't make such a big deal out of it.
"Since you're traveling by yourself, book a cheap motel somewhere.
"This way my whole family gets to stay in the RV."
As soon as the recording ended, Mark's expression shifted.
"Karen admitted to taking my vehicle and refusing to bring it back," I told him. "I never gave her the green light.
"Snatching my keys, driving off my property without my okay, and currently holding my vehicle hostage—every single step of that is grand theft auto."
I locked eyes with Mark. "Under state law, grand theft of property over a certain threshold carries a prison sentence of three to ten years.
"Considering my camper is worth 120,000 dollars, I'd say that easily hits the felony threshold, wouldn't you?"
He gave me a long look. "Did you go to law school or something?"
"No," I replied. "But I do know that thieves belong in prison."
Mark stayed silent for a few seconds.
Drawing my stack of evidence toward him, he started examining everything piece by piece.
The bill of sale got checked and double-checked.
The HOA photos were zoomed in so he could verify the faces.
As for the recorded phone call, he hit replay twice.
"Give me a minute," Mark finally said, standing up.
He disappeared into the back rooms.
I sat there waiting for roughly ten minutes.
When Mark returned, an older officer was following close behind.
Taking a seat, the older cop met my gaze. "I'm Robert Miller. We've reviewed your situation, and we're officially moving forward with this case.
"Are you positive you want to press charges?"
"I am," I told him.
"Once the paperwork is filed, there's no turning back. Even if the suspects try to plead with you later on, it'll be out of your hands. You won't have the power to drop the charges."
"I won't be dropping them."
"Alright then."
Robert pulled out a notepad to get my formal statement.
That meant walking him through the exact times, locations, and the entire chain of events all over again.
"What are you looking to get out of this?" he asked.
"I want her hit with criminal charges," I answered. "A stolen car is a stolen car. It doesn't matter if it was taken by a stranger or a neighbor."
Robert gave a nod. "We're treating this as an active grand theft auto.
"And we'll get an alert out to highway patrol to pull them over as soon as possible."
"Thank you," I said.
Getting to my feet, I headed for the exit.
"Are you really against working this out privately?" Mark called out from behind me. "What if she offers to pay you back for the trouble?"
I turned around. "This isn't about the money."
"It's about getting justice.
"She didn't care about settling things when she took my keys.
"She didn't care about it when she mocked me over the phone.
"And she didn't care when she turned her phone off to ignore me.
"Even if she begs to settle now, her time is up."
Mark didn't push it any further.
I walked out of the police station.
The sun was already starting to dip below the horizon.
Pulling out my phone, I turned on the screen.
There were no missed calls or new messages.
Karen and her family were probably still speeding down the interstate.
They had no idea what was coming for them.
I stood on the steps outside the station doors.
A breeze swept over me.
I took a long, deep breath.
Karen thought she could hijack my RV, treat her family to a joyride, and brag about saving a few bucks on lodging.
Well, she was about to find out what that free vacation would cost her.